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LIBR^RV 

J  OK   Till' 

University  of  California. 

GIFT  OK  THP: 

STATE  vniCLLTll^M.  COM  MI  SSI  (IN. 
l^eceiveJ.  Jaiiimrv.  i8q6. 
Accession  No.  .       Class  No. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


^^^^iJJyL  ^i^^^<^-t'-^•^-e-J>/^ 


FRANCO-AMERICAN  COMMERCE 


STATEMENTS  AND  ARGUMENTS 


IN  BEHALF  OF 

.0      J 


AMERICAN  IKDUSTRIES 


AGAINST  THE 


^^DPlD 


ROPOSED  Franco-American 


COMMERCIAL  TREATY 

SMbmitted  to  the  Special  Committee  of  the  San  Francisco  Chamber 

of  Commerce,  in  conforinity  with  the  resolutions  of 

the  Cha7nbery  passed  yu7ie  I'^th,  1879. 


San  Francisco: 

ALIA  CALIFORNIA  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTING  HOUSF., 

1879. 


Table  of  Contents, 


Page. 

Resolutions  of  the  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce ' 7 

Statement  of  Arpad  Haraszthy,  Esq.,  President  of  the  California  State  Viniculiural 

Society U 

Appendix  No.  1,  to  statement  of  Arpad  Haraszthy,  Esq.  Extracts  from 
reports  of  C.  A.  Wetmore,  Esq.,  delegate  of  the  Vinicultural  Society  to 
the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878 33 

Appendix  No.  2.     Report  of  the   Finance  Committee  of  the  U,  S.  Senate  upon 

Foreign  Wines  and  Spirits ■  •  •  •    130 

Address  of  C.  A.  Wetmore,  Esq.,  before  the  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, in  opposition  to  the  proposed  Franco-American  Treaty 151 

Opinions  of  Hon.  Horace  Davis  and  Flon.  J.  K.  Euttrell '2\'l 

Protest  of  Manufacturers  against  the  proposed  treaty 214: 


50065L 

LIBRARY 


RESOLUTIONS 


OF    THE 


SAN  FRANCISCO 


Chamber  of  Commerce 


RESOLUTIONS. 

Adopted  unanimously  by  the  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, Hon.  George  C.  Perkins,  President  of  the  Chamber,  in  the 
Chair,  on  tlie  13th  of  June,  1879. 

After  an  extended  discussion  of  the  proposed  Franco-Ameri- 
can Commercial  Treaty,  participated  in  by  M.  Leon  Chotteau  on 
behalf  of  the  treaty,  and  by  Mr.  Chas.  A.  Wetmore  and  others  in 
opposition  to  it,  the  following  resolutions,  introduced  by  Mr.  W. 
N.  Olmstead,  were  unanimously  adopted; 

Resolved,  That  this  Chamber  is  decidedly  opposed  to  the  proposed  reciprocity 
treaty  with  France. 

Resolved,  That  our  rej)resentatives  in  Congress  be  requested  to  use  their  utmost 
efforts  to  defeat  any  such  treaty. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Chamber  to  collect  and 
transmit  to  nur  Representatives  in  Congress,  and  the  various  Chambers  of  Commerce 
throughout  the  country,  all  necessary  statistics  and  information  as  to  the  injurious 
effect  such  a  treaty  will  have  on  the  interests  of  this  State. 

THE  COMMITTEE. 

The  President  ap|)()inted  the  following  named  Lientlen.en  to 
act  ujjon  the  committee  provided  for  by  the  resolutions: 

Hon.  Caleb  T.  Fav,  Chairman. 
H.  13.  Williams,  Esq.  Hon.  Irving  M.  Scott, 

W.  T.  Coleman,  Esq.  D.  J.  Staples,  Esq. 


STATEMENT 


OF 


Mr,  Arpad  Haraszthy. 


President  of  the  California  State  Vinicnltural  Society. 


II 


To  Caleb  T.  Fay,  Esq.,  Chairman  of  the  Special  Commit- 
tee of  the  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
having  under  consideration  the  injuries  to  the  indus- 
tries of  California,  which  may  follow  the  proposed 
Reciprocity  Treaty  with  France. 

Sir  :  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  San  Francisco,  on 
the  thirteenth  day  of  June  last,  after  hearing  the  argument  of  Mr. 
Leon  Chotteau  in  favor  of  a  proposed  French  Treaty,  and  a 
contrary  argument  from  Mr.  Chas.  A.  Wetmore,  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions  hostile  to  the  adoption  of  any  sucli  treaty,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed,  with  special  instructions  to  seek  out  and 
report  to  the  Chamber,  the  injurious  effects  such  treaty  would 
have  upon  the  trade,  industries  and  manufactures  of  our  country; 
on  behalf  of  the  wine  interest  of  California,  I  therefore  submit  to 
your  consideration  the  following  statement : 

In  order  to  understand  fully  the  present  condition  of  the  vini- 
cultural  interest  of  California,  and  its  possible  great  future,  an  out- 
hne  of  its  past  history  and  present  extent  is  necessary,  which  I 
will  endeavor  to  draw  as  briefly  as  the  subject  will  permit. 

The  vine  was  hrst  known  to  be  cultivated  in  our  State,  at  the 
Mission  San  Gabrielle,  in  Los  Angeles  county,  in  the  year  1771, 
and  was  first  planted  by  the  Catholic  Fathers.  Gradually  its  cul- 
tivation was  extended  from  mission  to  mission,  till  there  was  not  a 
single  one  which  did  not  possess  from  five  acres,  upward.  Owing 
to  a  lack  of  regular  communication  with  other  countries,  little  or 
none  of  the  wine  could  have  been  exported — its  entire  quantity 
being  consumed  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  its  production. 
Its  manufacture  and  care  was  also  conducted  in  the  most  crude, 
primitive,  and  unscientific  manner.  Neither  do  we  hear  of  any  spe- 
cial reputation  as  to  the  quality  of  the  wines  of  any  of  the  Missions, 


12 

excepting  that  of  Sonoma,  which  is  reputed  to  have  had  some  slight 
preference.  Outside  of  the  missions  very  few  vines  were  planted, 
and  we  have  no  reliable  data  whereon  to  base  the  exact  number  of 
vines  cultivated  before  the  so-called  American  occupation  of  Cali- 
fornia. Their  number  however,  could  hardly  have  reached  half  a 
million  vines.  At  any  rate,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  Americans,  they 
found  the  once  splendid  missions  unoccupied,  desolate  and  in  ruins 
— their  wide  acres  of  grain  lands  trampled  down  by  cattle  ;  their 
orchards  and  vineyards  unproductive  and  running  wild  for  the  want 
of  the  civilizing  hand. 

The  earliest  official  information  we  find  upon  the  subject  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Americans,  is  the  State  Register,  which  places  the 
number  at  one  and  a  half  million  vines  in  185  3;  two  and  a  quarter 
millions  in  1857,  and  four  millions  in  1858.  Previous  to  1856, 
hardly  any  of  the  vines  planted  were  set  out  with  a  view  to  mak- 
ing wine,  nearly  all  being  intended  for  the  production  of  table 
grapes  alone.  It  was  about  that  year  that  public  attention  was 
more  especially  drawn,  by  numerous  newspaper  items,  to  the 
possibility  of  producing  good,  saleable  wines  in  the  State.  Choice 
wine  grape  cuttings,  which  had  been  imported  as  early  as  1853, 
came  into  demand,  and  all  sorts  were  planted  by  the  hundreds 
of  thousands,  year  after  year,  till  we  now  possess  from  forty 
to  forty-five  million  vines  in  California;  showing  an  average 
plantation  of  nearly  two  millions  per  annum  for  a  period  of 
twenty-two  years,  or  nearly  three  thousand  acres  per  year. 
And  at  this  rate  of  increase  in  less  than  fifty  years,  we  can  pro- 
duce one  hundred  million  gallons  of  pure  grape  wine,  and  eradi- 
cate the  disease  of  intemperance  from  among  the  American  people. 
And  one  hundred  million  gallons  of  wine  fifty  years  hence,  is  just 
'  three  times  as  much  as  France  exported  fifty  years  ago  (in  1829). 
These  facts  are  certainly  worthy  of  consideration.  Though  wine 
houses  were  established  as  early  as  1855,  still  California  wines  were 
hardly  offered  freely  on  the  market  until  1865.  Up  to  that  date 
nearly  all  the  wine  was  made  from  one  variety  of  grape,  the  one 
first  planted  by  the  Fathers  at  the  Missions,  and  which,  for  that 
reason,  has  since  been  termed  the  Mission  grape.  It  was  noticed 
that  wine  produced  from  this  variety,  no  matter  the  sectionof  the 
country,  the  soil,  altitude  or  climate,  possessed  a  characteristic 
taste,  different  from  French  and  German  wines,  and  which,  to  some 


13 

consumers,  seemed  undesirable,  and  by  ignorant  people  was 
erroneously  termed  a  ground  taste.  It  was  also  observed,  about 
the  year  iS6o,  that  wine  made  from  certain  European  varieties  of 
grape,  did  not  possess  that  peculiar  taste  found  in  those  made  from 
the  Mission.  This  was  justly  deemed  of  so  much  importance  that 
in  1 86 1,  a  commission  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  to  promote 
the  "improvement and  growth  of  the  grape-vine  in  California," 
and  the  late  Colonel  Agoston  Haraszthy,  one  of  the  three  com- 
missioners, in  the  advancement  of  this  object,  visited  Europe  to 
gather  vines  and  information. 

The  result  of  his   labors    was   an  ample  report   to  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  State,  and  the  importation  of  two  hundred  thousand 
cuttinp-s   and   rooted   vines,    cataloorued   under    four    hundred    and 
ninety  names,  and  comprising  every  procurable  and  known  \'1lriety 
of  grapevine.     This   was    the   first    reliable   large   importation  of 
foreign  grapevines,  and  from   it  mainly,  the  entire  State  has  since 
drawn  its  present  plantations  of  finer  varieties  for  wine  making. 
These   vines  were  not  available   for  planting  till  the  beginning  of 
1863,  and  in  that  year  an  immense  number  of  new  vineyards  were 
set  out,  and  the  old  ones  increased  in   extent.     Unfortunately   for 
the  reputation   of  the  State,    at   that  time    nothing   positive  was 
known  as  to  adaptability  of  variety,  soil  and  climate,  and  thousands 
of  vines  were  set  out  more  for  their  fine-sounding  names  than  for 
any  known  quality.     It  was  the  beginning  of  the  experimental  age. 
It  was  then  thought  by  the  enterprising,  but  inexperienced  wine- 
maker,  that  any  kind  of  wine  could   be  produced  from  one  and  the 
same  variety   of  grape,   grown  on  any  soil,    by  simpl)'  modifying 
the  method  of  manufacture.     This  incongruous  theory  led   to   the 
attempted  production  of  port,  sherry,   hock,    claret  and  burgundy 
wines,   all    from   one  vineyard,   and  from    one    quality    of  grape.- 
Of  course  it  was  a  failure,  but  it  took   years   to  discover  the  tact, 
and  some   of  these  theorists  still  remain  unconvinced.     In   1863, 
upon  the  plantation    of  the   imported   vines,  a  new    theory    was 
set    forth,    a    little     niorc    rational     than     tlic    previous    one,    l)ut 
still  wide   of  the  mark.     It  held   that  the  variety   of  grape,  com- 
bined  with   method  of  manufacture,   would   reproduce   tlic  \aried 
qualities  and  characteristics  of  all  the  known  wines.    In  this  theory 
soil  and  climate  were  entirely  lost  to  sight.      Not   until  some   four 
years  ago,  after  long  and  most  patient  waiting,  and  the  cost  of 


14 

endless  experiments,  have  the  wine-makers  of  the  State  bep^un 
to  acknowledge  that  there  must  be  a  perfect  adaptability  of  grape 
to  soil,  climate,  method  of  manufacture,  and  the  quality  of  wine 
desired  to  be  produced.  At  this  period  we  are  only  beginning  to 
emerge  from  our  false  theories,  and  it  will  still  require  ten  years 
more  to  pass  out  of  our  experimental  age.  Owing  to  the  abso- 
lute want  of  knowledge,  nearly  all  the  important  plantations  made 
in  1863,  1864  and  1865,  were  set  out  more  with  a  view  of  having 
a  greater  variety  of  grapes,  than  of  any  consistency  in  selection ; 
and  hence,  to-day,  we  often  meet  with  vineyards  of  not  more  than 
thirty  acres  in  extent,  and  possessing  from  1 5  to  25  different  varieties 
of  vines.  Of  course  a  benefit  will  eventually  accrue,  in  the  dis- 
covery from  actual  observation  of  the  most  suitable  variety  to  the 
special  locality,  but  in  the  meantime  the  entire  past  has  been 
wasted,  and  it  will  require  at  least  from  five  to  six  years  from  the 
date  of  such  discovery  to  regenerate  the  vineyard,  and  secure  its 
complete  plantation  with    varieties  that  are  suitable. 

These  are  merely  some  of  the  obstacles  met  with  in  the  planta- 
tions at  the  outset ;  combined  to  them,  are  to  be  considered  the 
scarcity  of  capital  and  the  ruinous  rates  of  interest.  In  1862  the 
vine-grower  had  to  pay  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  per  month  on  his 
borrowed  money,  and  compounded  every  ino7ith.  Not  until  four 
years  ago  could  he  secure  money,  even  upon  the  best  of  security, 
for  less  than  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  per  month.  And  not  until 
five  years  after  plantation  could  the  vine-grower  expect  to  realize 
any  incomefrom  his  vineyard  ;  and  even  when  his  vineyard  did  bear, 
he  only  perceived  that  his  expenses  had  to  be  suddenly  doubled,  for 
then  a  fermenting  house  and  cellars  had  to  be  constructed, 
press  and  crushers  built,  and  wine  casks  purchased.  In  1864  and 
1 865  old  second-hand  casks  were  eagerly  purchased  for  as  high  as 
14  cents  per  gallon,  and  new  ones  commanded  as  high  as  20  cents, 
and  even  more.  Unskilled  labor  commanded  from  30  to  40  dollars 
per  month  and  board.  With  all  this  there  was  no  settled  price 
for  the  wine,  while  very  considerable  quantities  were  gradually 
being  thrown  upon  the  market,  with  very  few  purchasers.  To  add 
to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  the  wines  produced  at  that  period, 
through  lack  of  proper  knowledge  and  handling,  both  at  its  fermen- 
tation and  at  its  preparation  for  consumption,  as  well  as  through 
lack  of  age,  was  often  defective  and  proved   unsatisfactory.     Im- 


15 

oorters  of  foreign  wines,  watching  with  jealousy  the  greatly  increased 
production  of  native  wines,  made  the  most  of  these  mishaps,  and 
upon  every  possible  occasion  assumed  to  deride  and  frown  down 
with  contempt,  the  possibility  of  ever  producing  a  good  drinking 
wine  in  California.  Unfortunately,  these  interested  importers 
found  no  lack  of  ignorant  people  to  ape  their  assumed  condem- 
nation; to  assist  in  creating  a  prejudice  wherG  none  should  have 
existed;  and  wasfe  a  bitter  waras^ainst  the  wine  interest  of  the  State. 
Now  the  tables  have  all  changed — not  through  a  kinder  feeling  from 
the  inporters;  not  through  any  renewed  protection  from  the  gov- 
ernment ;  not  through  any  less  continued  condemnation  from  the 
prejudiced  ignorant;  but  solely  through  the  intelligent,  patient,  un- 
tiring labors  of  the  vine-grower  and  the  enterprise  of  the  California 
wine  dealer.  Four  years  ago  the  wine  importers  of  the  whole 
Union  demanded  and  secured  the  present  tariff  of  forty  cents  per 
gallon.  We  then  had  their  sneers  ;  we  now  have  their  supplications 
to  Congress  for  a  reduction  to  one-half  the  present  tariff,  to  enable 
them  to  compete  with  us.  Then,  we  were  belittled,  as  was  the  quality 
of  our  productions;  and  to  do  this  successfully  they  relied  upon  the 
ignorance  of  the  public,  and  the  assumed  quality  of  their  own  impor- 
tations. But  the  public  is  no  longer  ignorant ;  the  scales  have  fallen 
from  its  eyes,  and  the  spurious  quality  of  the  bulk  of  French  wines 
coming  into  the  United  States  has  been  amply  shown  by  Mr.  Wet- 
more's  several  letters  from  Bordeaux,  Marseilles  and  Cette,  and 
which  I  append.  The  wine  exporters  of  France  see  that  their  best 
days  will  have  ceased  in  our  country,  unless  they  can  devise  some 
means  to  prevent  American  people  from  drinking  American  wines. 
To  them  there  is  but  one  visible  preventive,  and  that  is  the 
enactment  of  a  treaty,  ratified  by  Congress,  reducing  the  present 
tariff.  And  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  should  such  a  treaty  be  enacted, 
the  exporters  of  F'rance  will  have  accomplished  their  purpose,  and 
compl^etely  ruined  the  wine  interests  of  the  whole  United  States.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  every  patriotic  American  will  lift  his  voice  against 
the  execution  of  so  serious  a  calamity  to  one  of  our  greatest  future 
agricultural  interests. 

I  have  now  shown  tlie  difficulties  encountered,  step  by  step, 
by  the  California  wine-maker  in  his  endeavors  to  plant  his  vine- 
yard and  produce  a  good,  pure,  saleable  article  of  wine:  I  have 
followed  him  in  his  patient   industry,    through  costly   experiment^ 


i6 

covering  the  best  years  of  his  manhood ;  I  have  shown  him  strug- 
gling for  want  of  capital,  with  ruinous  rates  of  interest,  high  rates 
of  labor,  and  against  a  selfish,  bitter  prejudice.  We  have  followed 
him  from  the  time  the  State  had  less  than  two  million  vines  till  the 
present  day,  when  it  points  with  pride  to  its  forty-five  millions. 
And  now  that  he  is  about  to  reap  the  benefit  of  his  life-long  sacri- 
fices and  untiring  energies,  it  is  sought  to  wrench  the  golden  prize 
from  his  grasp,  and  lay  him  and  the  result  of  his  labors  forever  in 
the  dust  by  a  so-called  Reciprocity  Treaty  with  France — a  scheme 
devised  in  the  interest  of  the  French  compounder  of  wines.  But 
I  will  now  give  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  present  extent  and 
actual  value  of  the  wine  interest  of  this  State,  which  this  proposed 
treaty,  if  carried  into  effect,  would  entirely  destroy. 

The  latest  official  sources  put  the  number  of  vines  now  in  the 
State  at  forty-five  millions,  or  about  60,000  acres.  These  are 
owned  by  over  four  thousand  proprietors,  and  it  is  computed  that 
ten  thousand  people  in  the  State,  and  all  of  them  adults  and  voters, 
earn  their  livelihood  and  support  their  families  through  this  one 
pursuit.  The  capital  invested  in  vines,  lands,  animals,  tools,  ap- 
pliances, casks,  dwellings,  cellars  and  their  contents,  amounts  to 
thirty  million  dollars.  When  our  present  vineyards  are  in  full  bear- 
ing, which  will  be  in  three  years  hence,  our  possible  production 
could  reach  twenty  million  gallons  of  wine,  not  allowing  for  grapes 
locally  consumed  or  made  into  raisins  and  brandy. 

Our  exports  from  the  State  by  land  and  sea  in  i878aniounted 
to  two  million  gallons  of  wine,  of  which  a  little  more  than  one-half 
went  by  sea,  and  the  rest  by  rail.  The  value  of  these  wines  reached 
one  million  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  State  consumption 
of  our  wines  is  estimated  to  exceed  two  and  a  half  million  gallons. 
For  four  years  preceding  1879,  the  estimated  value  of  the  wine 
consumed  in  the  State  at  forty  cents  per  gallon,  amounts  to  one 
million  dollars  ;  that  exported  to  one  million  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars;  giving  a  total  value  for  1878  of  two  million  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  saved,  earned,  and  kept  within  the 
State  by  its  wine  makers.  In  these  figures  no  allowance  was 
made  for  the  value  of  two  hundred  thousand  gallons  of  brandy 
made,  and  a  surplus  stock  of  one  million  and  a  half  gallons  of 
wine  not  exported  or  consumed.  And  this  is  but  the  beginning 
of  the  development  of  this  gigantic  industry. 


17 

During  the  first  six  months  of  the  present  year  we  exported 
from  the  State,  one  million  one  hundred  and  twenty-four   thousand 
gallons,  being   a   gain    of  two    hundred    and  sixty  thousand  gal- 
lons over    the    same    six   months   of  the   previous    )ear    (1878). 
Should  this  proportionate  increase  hold  good  for  the  remainino-  six 
months,    our  exports   of  wine    this  year,   will  run   over  two  mil- 
lion  six   hundred   thousand  gallons,  or  one  hundred  thousand  gal- 
lons more  than  was   received  in   the   entire   United    States    from 
France  in   1877.        And   to-day,   California  alone  consumes  more 
wine  of  her  own  production  than  the  whole  amount  sent  by  France 
to  all  the  States  of  the  Union  combined.     Yet  in  the  face  of  such 
facts,    it    is   generally    asserted     that    Californians    do    not  drink 
their  own  wines;  it  may  be  that  they  do  not  drink  them — as  Cali- 
fornia wines.     It  is  well   known  by  the  better   informed,  that  our 
best  grades   of  wines  are  almost   invariably  labeled  with  French 
and  German  labels,  by    retailers  who  have  in  view  their  own  im- 
mediate profit,  rather  than  regard  for    the  future  welfare  of  this 
great    interest.        But    in    this    they    only    follow    the    pernicious 
example    taught    them    by    their    competitors    in     Cette    and    in 
Bordeaux,     as    fully    shown    by    Mr.     Wetmore's     letters.       But 
I    am   glad    to  say    that    the    attempted    imitation    does    not    go 
farther    than    the    label:     we    have  not    yet    been    compelled    to 
resort    to    those    very    questionable    practices    of    the    Bordeaux 
cheap  wine  exporter — that  is,  mixing,  fixing,  flavoring,   perfuming, 
coloring,    waterino"  and    the     adding    of    alcohol:    we     have    not 
yet  reached    that    state    of  perfection   and    scientific    skill  that  is 
required    to  produce  the    Vhi  dc   Cargaison,   sent  to  the   United 
States   by    the    millions    of  gallons,     to    contaminate    our    taste 
and  vitiate  our  palates.     We    have,    under    the   guise  of  fictitious 
labels,  been  lead  to  suppose  that  we  were  drinking  fine  Bordeaux 
wines,    whereas,    in    fact,    we    were    nicrely  drinking  trash,   com- 
pounded at  Cette,  Bordeaux  or  Marseilles,  and  have  been  the  laugh- 
ing   stock  of  the  French  wine  exporter,  whose  pockets  we  filled 
through    our    ignorance,    and     our    vanity.        We  have    not    \et 
attempted  such  imitations,  but  have  confined  ourselves  to  placing 
upon  the  market,  pure,   genuine  wines  n^adc  from    the  juice  of  the 
grape    alone,    without    addition  of  water,   sugar,   alcohol,   coloring 
matter,  or  flavoring  essences  of  any   kind.      Such  qualities  as   our 
wines    have   attained    are    purely    natural,  and   acquired    without 


i8 

adventitious  aid  of  any  substance  other  than  grape  juice.  And  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  our  efforts  to  furnish  the  American  people 
with  a  pure  and  wholesome  wine,  will  be  fully  appreciated  by  our 
legislators.  But  though  we  may  not  have  followed  the  foreign 
wine  exporter  in  his  skillful  adulterations,  we  certainly  excel  him 
in  our  mechanical  contrivances  for  the  production  of  wine,  the 
crushing  and  handling  of  grapes,  and  the  storage  of  their  product. 
We  point  with  pride  to  our  stone  walled  press  houses;  to  our 
California  invented  hydraulic  presses;  to  our  steam  crushers  and 
stemmers;  to  our  magnificent  casks,  such  as  are  not  found  in  the 
whole  of  Trance.  These  have  all  been  built,  created  and  in- 
vented by  the  genius  of  our  own  citizens,  under  all  manner  of 
trials,  and  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  wine.  Nowhere  in  our 
State  do  you  see  the  filthy  habit  of  crushing  the  grapes  with  the 
naked  fee*",  as  is  the  almost  invariable  practice  in  France- -nor  do 
you  ever  see  any  nude  men  enter  our  fermenting  tanks,  as  they 
do  in  France,  waist  deep,  to  trample  down  the  grapes  in  the 
manufacture  of  their  claret.  And  )et  such  practices  are  alrnost 
universal  in  France,  Spain,  Portugal  and  Italy.  I  cannot  see  how 
any  American  woman  can  touch  a  glass  of  French  claret  to  her  lips 
without  loathing. 

As  to  our  presses,  one  man  can  create  a  pressure  of  40  tons 
per  square  inch  with  our  California  Hydraulic  Press,  and  it  occupies 
less  than  one  quarter  the  space  of  the  cumbersome  European  in- 
vention of  not  one-third  the  power.  Then  note  our  steam 
stemmer  and  crusher,  which  crushes  and  stems  from  10  to  12  tons 
of  grapes  per  hour.  Where  in  the  whole  of  Europe  will  you  find 
a  single  equal  ?  While  our  large  oaken  casks,  all  made  in  our 
State,  and  varying  from  one  to  twelve  thousand  gallons,  are  marvels 
of  strength,  symmetry  and  beauty.  Nor  are  they  possessed  by  one, 
two  or  three  in  a  cellar,  but  by  the  fifties  and  by  the  hundred. 
All  this  we  liave  accomplished  unaided,  alone,  and  against  the  most 
determined  opposition  of  the  importers,  as  well  as  the  ignorant 
prejudice  of  the  masses. 

But  now  let  us  examine  the  comparative  qualities  of  the 
wines  we  have  finally  produced. 

The  white  wines  or  hocks,  have  been  conceded  to  be  fair  in 
quality  from  the  start;  and  have  of  late  years  improved  so  much,  by 
better  care,  earlier  gathering  of  the   grape  at  the  vintage,  and  by 


19 

plantation  of  the  most  reputed  foreign  grapevines,  that  the  French 
and  German  cheap  white  wines  have  been  driven  almost  entirely 
from  the    market. 

Our  greatest  difficulty,  however,  was  our  unsuccessful  attempts 
to  produce  a  good  claret  from  the  beginning.  The  mission  grape 
after  years  of  trial,  in  every  soil,  climate  and  method  of  manufac- 
ture proved  itself  unfit.  Only  within  the  last  few  years,  have 
the  proper  claret  producing  qualities  been  discovered  in  the 
Zinfandel,  the  Black  Burgundy  and  the  Grenache,  singly  or  com- 
bined in  various  proportions,  and  grown  upon  certain  soils.  With- 
in the  last  three  years  our  claret  wines  have  made  immense  strides 
towards  perfection;  and  now  a  good  cheap  ordinary  California 
claret  is  the  rule,  instead  of  the  exception,  as  heretofore;  and  there 
are  many  wine  districts  in  France  that  cannot  make  the  same 
boast. 

Such  in  fact,  has  been  our  progress,  that  even  Mr.  Chotteau  in 
an  interview  with  a  World  reporter  on  the  ninth  of  July  last,  is  re- 
ported to  have  said,  that  "  the  American  consumer  can  procure 
California  wine,  the  quality  of  which  it  must  be  admitted,  is  prefer- 
able to  that  of  our  French  cargo  wines,"  and  further  on,  that  "the 
jobbing  and  retail  merchants  enlarge  with  California  wines,  the  little 
French  wine  that  they  import,  to  such  a  degree,  that  there  are 
consumed  certainly  ten  barrels  of  native  wine,  to  one  from  the  vine- 
yards of  France."  We  thank  Mr.  Chotteau  for  his  candid  admis- 
sions. I  also  refer  in  testimony  to  the  very  able  and  pointed  official 
report  of  Mr.  Poorest,  Consul  General  of  France,  at  San  Francisco, 
and  which  will  be  found  in  the  appendix. 

The  wines  must  certainly  have  some  qualities,  or  over  two 
and  a  half  million  gallons  would  not  be  consumed  in  our  State, 
neither  would  there  be  two  millions  more  exported.  And  the 
demand  for  export  has  increased,  with  very  slight  liuctuations, 
from  the    very  beginning  as  the  following  figures  will  show. 

WINK    AND    BRANDY    E.XPOKTS    BY    SEA    AND    KAIL. 

YEARS.  SEA.  KAIL.  TOTALS. 

1872 613,951  gals.        339,334  gals.        953,285  gals. 

1873 557,683     "  380,365     "  938,048     " 

1874 635,268     "  558,515     "        1,193,783     " 

In  the  above  figures  the  wine  and  brandy  are  put  together, 
there  having  been  no  separate  account  kept  of  them  at  the  C.  P. 
Railroad  offices  till  the  year  1875. 


20 


WIXE  EXPORTS  BY  SEA  AND  RAIL. 


ye^RS  SEA.  RAIL.  TOTALS. 

1875 507,809  gals.  523,698  gals.  1,031,507  gals. 

187G 5ir,,2G9     "  598,770     "  1,115,045     " 

1S77 890,34(5     "  506,446     "  1,462,792     " 

1878 1,238,626     "  573,533     "  1,812,159     " 

1879— six  months 776,282     "  346,130     •'  1,122,412     " 

Now,  upon  examination,  the  first  six  months  of  1879  show  an 
increased  exportation  over  the  same  six  months  in  1878,  of  250,723 
gallons  by  sea,  and  48.773  gallons  by  rail;  that  is,  a  total  increase 
of  299,496  gallons.  By  again  looking  at  the  figures,  it  will  be  seen 
that  this  increase  for  six  months  is  almost  equal  to  the  increase  of 
the  entire  year   1878  over  that  of  1S77. 

Our  brandy  exports  from  1875  by  Sea  and  Rail  are  as  follows: 

YEARS.  SEA.  RAIL.  TOTALS. 

1875 39,924  gals.  2,394  gals.  42,318  gals. 

1876 30,901     "  23,092     "  59,993     " 

1877 04,940     "  74,052     "  138,992     " 

1878 91,324     "  37,875     "  129,199     " 

1879— six  months 49,354     "  31,991     "  81,345     " 

To  say  the  least,  this  must  be  considered  encouraging  in  view  of 
the  existing  dull  times  in  every  part  of  our  continent. 

In  referring  again  to  the  above  figures,  it  will  be  observed  that 
there  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  our  exports  of  wine  from  the 
year  1875,  without  a  single  fluctuation,  and  that  our  export  for 
the  first  six  months  of  the  present  year  was  greater  than  the  en- 
tire export  of  1876.  Comparing  these  results  to  those  in  the  im- 
portation of  French  wines  into  our  Port,  we  find  that  France  sent 
us  in 

1874,  In  wood 750,000  gals. 

In  bottle 51,800     " 

Total   801,800  gals. 

1878,  In  wood 370,000  gals. 

In  botde 15,900     " 

Total 385,900  gals. 

Decreased  importation  into  this  Port  after  4  years 495,900  gals 

This  decrease  in  the  importation  of  French  wines  to  the  Port 
of  San  Francisco,  remarkable  as  it  may  seem,  is  nevertheless  sur- 
passed by  the  decreased   P^rcnch  wine  importation  for  the  whole 


21 

United  States,  as  a  scrutiny  ot"  the  amounts  for  187^.  and  1.77  \v..i 
show  in  the  following  figures  taken  from  the  official  French  Customs 
reports. 

WINES  IMPORTED  FROM  FRANCE  IXTO  THE  UNITED    STATES,   IN    WOOD    AND    GLASS,    REDUCED 

TO  AMERICAN  WINE  GALLONS. 

1868 3,410,000  gallons 

1869 5,904,000  " 

1870 0,GG3,000  " 

1871 6,200,000  " 

1872 7,080,000  " 

1873   5,511,000  " 

1874 5,207,000  " 

1875 3,263,000  •' 

1876 2,757,000  " 

1877 2,486,000  " 

This  very  notable  reduction  may  be  ascribed,  first,  to  the  cheap- 
ness and  progressive  good  quality  of  our  own  wines,  and  secondly, 
to  the  change  in  tariff  which  took  place  on  the  8th  of  February, 
1875.  Previous  to  that  date  the  United  States  had  a  mixed  tariff, 
that  is,  a  specific  and  ad  valorem  combined,  the  workings  of  which 
was  so  objectionable  as  to  cause  the  "  Wine  and  Spirit  Traders' 
Society  of  the  United  States,"  to  use  their  best  efforts  to  have  it 
changed  to  the  present  purely  specific  tariff  of  40  cents  per  gallon, 
on  all  wines  regardless  of  value.  The  present  system  though  it 
may  have  tended  to  diminish  the  amount  of  wines  imported,  has  on 
the  other  hand  undoubtedly  increased  the  importation  o^  a  better 
quality,  for  where  as  under  the  ad  valorem  duty,  the  average  value 
of  the  wine  imported  was  40.75  cents  per  gallon,  under  the  specific 
they  averaged  62.35  cents,  showing  that  we  now  recieve  much  finer 
grades  of  wines  than  formerly.  But  I  cannot  do  better  here  than 
quote  from  a  statement  emanating  from  the  above  mentioned 
"Wine  and  Spirit  Traders'  Society,"  dated  F'ebruary,  1878. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  following  table  shows  im- 
portations, not  from  France  alone,  but  from  all  other  wine  sources 
as  well.     I  quote,  as  follows: 


22 


"STATISTICS  TAKEN  FROM  THE  OFFICIAL  LIST  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  STATISTICS  IN  WASHINGTON. 

Statement  of  the  Quantity,  Value,  Rate  and  Amount  of  Duty  received  from  Foreign 
Wines,  during-  the  fiscal  years  1872 /^  1877. 


Average 

Average 

Year. 

Gallons. 

Value 

Rate  of  Duty. 

Duty. 

Value 

Duty 

per  gal. 

per  gal. 

GTS. 

CTS, 

1872. 

9.135.771 

$3,430,975 

"j  Value  under  40c.  pr  gal.,  25c.  pr  gal. 

Over  40c.  and  under  $1,  60c.     " 
'"  Over  Si                     $1  and  25  per  ct. 

$2,822,250 

37-55 

30.89 

1873. 

9.278,3H 

3,711.137 

2,840,321 

39-99 

30.45 

1874. 

9,000,335 

3,736,796 

2,662,000 

41-51 

29-57 

1875. 

6,459.303 

J  2,099,394 
■ji, 151, 728 

Act  Feb.  8,  1875. 

(1,464,727 
1     763,327 

j  43-96 
1 68.39 

j  30.67 
140. 

1876. 

4,589,025 

2,776,274 

y  Went  into  effect  day  of  passage. 
)  40c.  per  gal.,  specific. 

2,027,928 

60.49 

40. 

1877. 

4,406,279 

2,562,944 

1,931,266 

58.16 

40. 

"It  will  be  seen  from  the  above,  that  under  the  ad  valorem 
duty,  which  it  is  proposed  to  reinstate,  the  average  value  of  wines 
imported  was  40,^0^0  cents  per  gallon,  whereas  under  the  specific, 
they  average  62,^^^  cents,  showing  that  the  public  received  a  finer 
grade  under  the  latter. 

"As  an  illustration  of  the  benefit  to  the  Government  of  the 
specific  duty,  we  call  your  attention  to  the  comparative  importa- 
tions of  1873,  under  the  ad  valorem  duties,  and  in  1877,  under  the 
specific,  by  which  it  will  be  seen,  than  in  1877,  on  an  importation 
of  less  than  half  the  quantity  of  1873,  the  Government  collected 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  revenue  of  that  year. 

1873 Gallons,  9,278,311         Duty,  $2,840,321 

1877 '         4,406,279  "       1,931,266 

"It  is  claimed  by  the  Trade,  that  the  specific  duty  has  been  a 
perfect  success,  for  notwithstanding  the  great  falling  off  in  the  quan- 
tity imported,  the  revenue  has  decreased  less  in  proportion  than  on 
any  other  goods  belonging  to  this  class,  as  per  following  statistics: 


STILL  WINES. 

MALT  LIQUORS. 

Sparkling  Wines. 

SPIRITS. 

Gallons. 

Duty. 

Gallons.  |      Duty. 

Doz. 

Duty. 

Gallons. 

Duty. 

1873- - 
1874.. 
1875.. 
1876.. 
1877.. 

9,278,311 
9,000,335 

6,459.303 
4,589.025 
4,406,279 

$2,840,321 
2,662,00c 
2,228,154 
2,027,928 
1,931,266 

2,i77,=;86     S  662,952 
2,001,084         586,977 
i,9i.)2,iio         577,498 
1,483,919         425,986 
1,172,679         317,769 

237,064 
207,152 
193.588 
158,988 
136,735 

$1,421,199 

1,239,346 

11,859,71 

954.581 

820,513 

2,125,994 
1,957,826 
1,690,590 
1,464,000 
1.376,728 

$4,250,515 
3.915.605 
3,383,301 
2,960,451 
2,761,999 

Proportion  of  decrease  of  revenue  on  Wines 32  per  cent. 

Do  do.  do.-  Malt  Liquors  ... .  53 100  " 
Do.  do.  do.  Sparkling  Wines  .  42i^„'i  " 
Do.  do.  do.  Spirits ^^Z      " 


23 

"The  importation  of  wine  lias  materially  decreased,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  large  production  of  American  wines  since  1874,  as 
there  is  now  an  annual  production  of  about  fifteen  niillion  gallons. 

"It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  under  the  ad  valorem  duties,  the 
crude ^  u7idevelopcd  and  poor  Wines  (unsaleable  in  European  mar- 
kets and  the  rest  of  the  world)  are  made  up  and  shipped  to  this 
country,  as  they  are  the  only  grades  which  can  be  entered  under 
the  lowest  rate  of  duty.  In  explanation  of  this  we  give  you  the 
particulars  of  the  importation  of  1874,  (the  last  year  of  the  ad  valo- 
rem duty:) 


"One  of  the  great  advantages  of  a  specific  duty  is  its  simplicity 
and  decrease  of  cost  of  collection.  Increase  of  revenue  in  propor 
tion  to  quantity  imported.  General  satisfaction  to  the  trade  of  the 
working  of  a  specific  duty.  No  suits  by  the  Government  for 
claimed  undervaluation  since  the  specific  duty  was  adopted. 

"The  present  specific  duty  of  40  cents  per  gallon  has  given  sat- 
isfaction to  the  Treasury  Department,  the  Anierican  wine  growers 
and  the  importers  of  wines.  The  change  from  the  ad  valorem  and 
specific  system  in  1875,  to  the  purely  specific  duty  of  40  cents  per 
gallon,  was  really  an  advance  in  the  rate  of  duty  ot  30  per  cent.,  as  the 
average  duty  per  gallon  on  all  still  wines  imported  during  the 
years  1871  to  1875,  was  33.66  cents.  In  conscque7icc  of  this  i)i- 
crcase,  the  /lai^d  times,  and  the  fact  that  a  large  quantity  of  the  cheap 
wine  formerly  imported  is  now  supplied  by  the  American  wine 
growers,  the  importations  have  decreased  over  50  per  cent. 

*  *  H  :;:  :i:  ::=  =!:  :)=  =5=  -f 

"The  pure  specific  duty  puts  all  importers  upon  an  equal  looting, 
whereas  under  the  combined  ad  valorem  and  specific  system,  the 
honest  merchant  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  unprincipled  dealer,  who 
imports  in  small  lots  and  undervalues  his  wines.  This  feature  was 
one  of  the  strongest  inducements   the  importers  had  in  advocating 


24 

the  advance  from  30.66  cents  to  40  cents  duty. 

"The  specific  duty  on  wine  is  the  only  practical  one,  and  we  can 
get  no  better  evidence  of  this  fact  than  England  adopting  it  after 
having  experimented  with  the  ad  valorem  system  and  finding  it 
did  not  work.  The  first  tariff  made  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  (July  4th,  1789).  put  a  specific  duty  of  18  cents  per 
gallon  on  Madeira  wine  and  10  cents  per  gallon  on  all  others. 
We  apply  the  specific  rates  to  brandies  and  sparkling  wines, 
which  vary  quite  as  much  in  quality  as  still  wines,  and  if  the 
theory  is  correct  and  has  worked  well  on  these,  why  should  the 
latter  be  exempt? 

:5:  Hi  *  :£:  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"The  value  of  wine  is  different  from  any  other  article  which  is 
imported,  as  it  changes  every  year  with  the  quality,  increase  or 
decrease  of  the  crop,  and  therefore  what  might  be  a  fair  standard 
one  year  would  not  be  the  next. 

"The  average  value  per  gallon  of  all  the  still  wines  imported  in 
1877  was  58.16  cents,  which  shows  that  the  bulk  of  the  wines  were 
the  low  and  medium  grades." 

From  this  document  it  will  be  seen  that  the  oro^anization  is 
thoroughly  satisfied  with  the  present  tariff  of  40  cents  per  gallon, 
and  its  membership  comprises  the  largest,  wealthiest  and  most 
respectable  importers  of  the  Union.  And  in  their  statement,  they 
make  a  direct  assertion,  that  the  loweringf  of  the  tariff  would 
only  increase  the  importation  of  ''crude,  undeveloped  and  poor 
wines  (unsalable  in  European  markets  and  the  rest  of  the  world), 
are  made  up  and  shipped  to  this  country,"  and  it  is  therefore  to 
secure  this  result  that  Mr.  Chotteau  has  gone  from  city  to  city  and 
advocated  a  reduction  of  our  tariff,  from  40  to  20  cents  per  gallon. 
It  is  to  assist  the  French  compounder  of  wines  to  get  rid  of  his 
poor,  crude,  unsaleable  trash-  He  not  only  wishes  to  re-establish 
the  trade  in  these  bogus  wines  which  was  carried  on  in  such  mag- 
nificent proportions  under  a  former  duty  of  30.66  cents  per  gallon, 
but  now  proposes  to  literally  flood  the  United  States,  by  placing 
the  tariff  at  only  20  cents  per  gallon.  If  the  gentleman  only  becomes 
successful,  what  a  rich  harvest  there  would  be  in  store  for  the 
compounders  of  Bordeaux,  Cette  and  Marseilles.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  however,  that  no  such  misfortune  will  overtake  the  wine 
interest    of  America.     But    to    return   and   indicate   the   growing 


25 

importance  of  this  production,  I  will  submit  the  following  figures, 
showing  the  receipts  of  wines  and  receipts  of  brandies  at  the  city 
of  San  Francisco,  from  the  year  1872. 

RECEIPTS    OF    WINE    AT   SAN    FRANCISCO. 

1872 1,298,220  gallons 

1873 1,458,804 

1874... 1,317,712 

1875 1,995,G29   *' 

1876 1,096,990 

1877 2,336,953 

1878 2,983,136 

1879    (six  monilis) 1,678,553 

The  first  six  months  of  1879  show  an  increase  of  371,487  gal- 
lons over  the  same  six  months  in  1878. 

RECEIPTS    OF    BRANDY    AT    SAN    FRANCISCO. 

1872  74,719  gallons 

1873 45,287 

1874 49,530 

1875 52,036 

1876 60,527 

1877 126,324 

1878 103,772 

1879,  six  months 61,138 

The  first  six  months  of  the  present  year  show  an  Increased 
reception  of  5,270  gallons  of  brandy  more,  than  during  the  same 
period  in  1S78. 

The  consumption  of  our  wines  in  San  Francisco  and  its  im- 
mediate neighborhood,  must  now  exceed  one  million  gallons  per 
annum,  for  the  diflerencc  between  the  wines  received  at  the  city 
over  the  estimate  amoiint  exported,  leaves  a  yearly  average  excess 
of  870,000  gallons  for  the  7  years  preceding  1879. 

To  this  must  be  added  what  is  manufactured  within  the  city 
irself  from  grapes  brought  from  the  country,  and  which  amount 
may  go  from  two  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  gallons,  mostly 
manufactured  in  small  lots.  Within  the  last  three  or  four  years 
the  local  consumption  of  native  wines  has  been  much  greater  than 
heretofore.  In  the  first  place,  the  wines  now  made  are  much  bet- 
ter than  they  formerly  were,  and  secondly,  the  people  are  becom- 
ing accustomed  to  whatever  slight  differences  they  may  possess  in 
character,  from  the  average  European  wines.  By  and  by  these 
differences  will  not  only  be  accepted,  but  will  be  sought  for  and 
appreciated. 


26 

I  have  now  In  a  measure,  shown  the  growth  of  this  agricutural 
pursuit  through  a  period  of  twenty- two  }'ears,  from  a  mere  nothing, 
to  a  vakiation  of  thirty  million  dollars;  and  that  the  flow  of  gold  has 
now  turned  toward  our  State,  instead  of  away  from  it  to  France,  as 
was  the  case  but  a  few  years  back.  All  these  facts  have  been 
verified  by  the  figures  quoted,  and  now  with  a  good  understanding 
of  the  actual  extent  at  which  this  interest  has  arrived,  I  will  en- 
deavor to  show  the  reasons  why  no  treaty  should  be  entered  upon 
with  France  in  this  matter,  or  that  any  change  looking  to  a  reduced 
tariff  should  be  contemplated. 

The  duty  of  40  cents  per  gallon  is  neither  prohibitory 
nor  excessive,  being  but  a  trifle  more  than  that  levied  by  the 
octroi  of  Paris  for  wines  in  glass.  It  is  also  just  to  the  consumer 
of  foreign  wines  in  the  United  States,  because,  according  to  the 
statement  of  the  Whie  and  Spirit  Traders  themselves,  it  gives  a 
chance  for  the  importation  of  finer  grade  wines  which  can  easily 
bear  the  slight  extra  duty,  as  against  the  cheap,  crude  and  com- 
pounded wines,  which  cannot.  On  the  contrary,  it  must  be 
evident  that  in  doing  away  with  the  ad  valorem  duty,  and  accept- 
ing the  present  specific  tariff,  the  finer  grades  of  wine  have  actitally 
been  made  cheaper  to  the  consumer.  But  neither  does  France,  nor 
even  Europe  wish  to  part  with  their  good  grades  of  wines;  they 
have  not  enough  to  supply  their  home  demand.  It  is  merely  the 
low  grades  that  they  have  in  excess  and  desire  to  find  a  more 
extended  market  for.  To  ascertain  how  this  is  managed,  I  refer 
to  the  appendix  containing  Mr.  Wetmore's  letters  from  Bordeaux. 
There  also,  it  will  be  seen  that  those  houses  dealing  solely  in  fine 
Medoc  wines  and  Cognac  brandies,  are  not  only  quite  satisfied 
with  our  present  tariff,  but  are  even  averse  to  having  it  lowered, 
recognizing  as  they  do  the  direct  injury  it  would  do  their  export 
trade  in  fine  wines,  by  increasing  the  difference  in  price  between 
the  compound?  and  the  genuine  wines. 

Because  the  present  rate  of  duty  is  calculated  to  bring  the 
Custom  House  the  greatest  amount  of  revenue  from  the  amount 
of  goods  imported,  and  in  this  I  again  refer  to  the  statement  of  the 
Wine  and  Spirit  Traders  Society.  That  to  lower  the  duty  to  twenty 
cents  per  gallon  in  wood,  and  to  fifty  cents  per  dozen  in  glass, 
would  be  placing  it  lower  than  the  octroi  of  the  City  of  Paris. 


27 

That  owing  to  the  lax  regulations  of  the  French  government 
concerning  compounded  wines  intended  for  export,  and  which  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Wetmore's  letters  are  forbidden  to  be  sold  for  use 
in  France,  that  our  own  country  would  not  only  be  drained  of 
its  money  to  the  extent  of  such  importation;,  but  that  the  heakh 
of  our  people  would  be  greatly  endangered  by  the  consumption  of 
an  article  that  is  considered  unwholesome  by  the  French  govern- 
ment, for  its  own  people  to  drink. 

That  the  flooding  of  our  country  with  such  cheap,  crude  com- 
pounds, would  seriously,  if  not  entirely,  prevent  the  growth  and 
production  of  a  pure  genuine,  wholesome  article  among  our  own 
people.  And  it  is  only  through  the  production  of  a  pure  andcheao 
native  wine  in  abundance,  that  we  can  hope  to  promote  more  tem- 
perate habits  amongst  us.  And  the  result  of  such  a  production 
would  not  only  be  conducive  to  temperance,  bnt  would  create  wealth 
among  our  citizens,  and  a  great  future  revenue  to  the  State. 

In  order  therefore  to  promote  temperance  in  the  United  States, 
we  must  have  cheap  wines,  and  they  must  be  pure,  light  and  "unadul- 
terated. To  secure  such  wines  we  must  increase  our  ov\^n  produc- 
tions and  stimulate  their  consumption.  The  more  we  produce  and 
the  readier  sale  we  find  among  ourselves,  the  cheaper  can  vv^c  alford 
to  supply  the  demand.  No  matter  hov/  low  the  tariff  on  i  nported 
wines,  they  never  can  become  really  a  cheap  economical  drink 
among  the  laboring  classes,  and  it  is  among  these  that  temperance 
should  be  implanted  more  than  among  all  other  classes.  The 
slight  duty,  the  importers'  profits  and  costs  of  transportation,  will 
always  make  an  imported  wine  come  higher  in  price  than  the  native 
production.  The  native  wine  merchant,  satisfies  himself  vv^ith  less 
than  one  quarter  of  the  profit  that  the  importer  seeks  and  invariably 
secures.  And  in  proof  of  the  assertion,  I  again  refer  to  Mr.  ^Vet- 
more's  letters,  and  to  the  wine  cards  of  all  our  first  class  hotels 
and  restaurants.  The  American  people  are  just  on  the  verge  of 
becoming  a  wine  drinking  people,  and  it  is  owing  solely  to  the 
efforts  of  the  American  viniculturists  that  this  very  desirable 
change  is  taking  place.  There  is  now  produced  over  fifteen  mil- 
lion gallons  of  native  wine  in  the  United  States,  per  annum,  all  of 
which  is  being  consumed  by  our  citizens,  whereas,  before  our 
present  large  production,  only  a  few  years  ago,  when  the  importers 
were  at  their  best,  less  than  ten  millions  were  imported.    Now,  besides 


28 

what  we  produce,  we  import  four  and  a  half  million  gallons,  which, 
added  to  our  domestic  production,  places  our  annual  consumption 
at  twenty  million  gallons.  And  who  has  brought  this  about  ex- 
cept the  American  wine  producer?  Would  it  then  be  either  fair  or 
wise  to  cripple  him  just  at  the  moment  that  success  seems  about  to 
crown  his  labors  and  his  enterprise?  Would  it  be  £:ound  policy  for 
our  government  to  bring  into  competition  the  compound  fluids  of 
a  foreign  land,  with  our  own  pure,  wholesome  productions?  And 
this  proposed  French  treaty  proposes  nothing  else,  since  we  have 
made  the  American  people  drinkers  of  wine,  by  the  absolute 
purity  and  greater  cheapness  of  our  own  productions.  To  us  should 
not  only  belong  the  merit,  but  also  the  benefits  of  our  labors. 

I  assert,  also,  that  France  can  never  supply  us  with  all  the 
cheap  and  pure  wines  that  our  people  will  soon  need.  They  are 
even  now  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  fill  their  own  demands  for  legit- 
imate wines,  and  this  treaty  is  not  at  all  intended  to  help  introduce 
that  kind  of  wine  into  our  country.  If,  therefore,  we  cannot  look 
to  France,  where  should  we  look  but  to  our  own  country,  which 
produces  and  ripens  to  perfection,  without  a  year  of  failure,  every 
known  variety  of  grape  that  is  grown  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
Where  we  have  every  soil  and  every  climate  !  Why  stunt  the 
growth  of  this  great  industry,  and  rob  it  of  its  possible  present 
profits,  by  the  changing  of  a  tariff  that  will  not  make  wine  one 
single  iota  cheaper  to  any  consumer?  This  change  may  give  trade 
to  the  importer;  and  is  sure  to  give  wealth  to  the  French  exporter! 
but  never  can  place  good,  wholesome  drinking  wine  within  the 
reach  of  every  mechanic's  household. 

To  lower  the  tarifi'  would  only  tend  to  lower  the  wages  of  the 
vineyard  laborers,  till  they  reach  the  French  level,  from  forty  to 
seventy-five  cents  per  day,  without  board  or  lodging.  The  result 
therefore  would  merely  react  upon  the  laboring  classes. 

But  to  lull  us  to  sleep,  Mr.  Chotteau  has  said  that  we  can  ex- 
port our  wines  even  to  France,  and  that  there,  by  blending  them 
with  certain  of  their  own,  good  qualities  of  wine  would  be 
produced.  I  do  not  doubt  it,  though  to  say  the  least,  the  propo- 
sition seems  a  little  cool,  and  even  disingenuous.  There  is  a  pos- 
itive belief  in  my  mind  that  our  wines  would  really  very  much 
conduce  to  the  quality  of  much  of  their  own;  but  after 
this  has  been  done,  will  the  wine  be  sent  out  as  California  wine? 


29 

or  will  it  be  treated  with  the  same  indignity  as  those  40  mil- 
lion gallons  that  are  imported  into  France  from  Spain,  Italy,  and 
Portugal,  mixed  with  French  wines,  water,  alcohol,  flavored,  col- 
ored, and  sent  all  over  the  world  as  Medoc  wines,  with  treble  the 
original  cost?  No,  sir ;  if  our  wines  must  be  blended  with  foreign  wines 
to  secure  a  better  quality,  then  it  is  just  and  proper  that  it  should 
be  done  here;  that  the  foreign  wines  come  to  us,  and  that  our  cit- 
izen i  do  the  trade,  and  not  the  merchants  at  Bordeaux. 

It  would  indeed  be  a  strange  spectacle  to  see  us  tamely  give 
way  the  result  of  years  of  untiring  toil  and  ceaseless  energy  to  the 
French  wine  exporter — to  bind  our  hands  and  feet  and  turn  over 
to  him  the  trade  that  we  have  created  for  ourselves  and  those  to 
come  after  us.  In  short,  we  are  cooly  asked  by  Mr.  Chotteau  to 
step  one  side,  lose  our  identity,  and  to  play  second  fiddle.  This 
is  funny.  I  have  said  that  France  at  the  present  time  is  taxed  to 
the  utmost  to  meet  her  own  demands  for  genuine  wine.  And 
every  year,  as  the  Phylloxera  creates  greater  havoc  in  her  vineyards, 
will  she  meet  greater  difficulties  in  procuring  the  wines  she  needs 
for  her  own  people.  I  mean  such  wines  as  the  French  government 
permits  its  citizens  to  drink,  not  those  it  permits  them  to  export. 
In  the  face  of  such  facts  it  is  consoling  to  know  that  the  average  yield 
per  acre  of  California  vineyards  is  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  greater 
than  that  of  France — and  still  more  so,  that  there  are  over  thirty 
million  acres  of  land  suitable  for  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  in  our 
State.  It  is  often  asked  by  travelers,  to  what  use  we  will  put  our 
millions  of  acres  of  hillside  land,  covered  with  sagebrush  and 
chapparal,  with  liardly  a  blade  of  grass  here  and  there?  If  the  wine 
interest  of  the  coast  is  let  alone  to  work  out  its  own  future, 
unfettered  by  dangerous  treaties,  and  unmolested  by  unwise  legis- 
lation, those  hills  will  not  long  remain  barren — they  will  all  be 
planted  with  vines,  capable  of  producing  an  abundance  of  the  very 
best  wines.  A  number  of  our  fine  vineyards  are  situated  in  just 
such  soil,  and  the  i)lanting  of  the  vine  in  our  State  will  never 
interfere  with  or  diminish  the  average  of  wheat  growing  lands.  It 
will  only  take  up  land  that  would  otherwise  prove  valueless  even 
for  pasturage.  And  this  more  than  any  other  reason  should  recom- 
mend this  pursuit  to  the  fostering  care  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment. If  the  State  of  California  had  as  many  acres  of  vineyard 
as  has  France,  she  could  support,  as  France  does,  over  thirty  millions 


30 

of  people;  for  all  the  other  industries  would  advance  as  they  were 
needed.  But  should  this  treaty  go  into  effect,  what  will  be  the 
consequence  ?  The  fictitious  wines  of  France,  made  part  from  grape 
juice  and  part  from  spirits  and  water,  will  come  to  our  country  and 
literally  flood  it  under  a  duty  of  twenty  cents  per  gallon.  Being 
for  the  most  part  fabrications,  they  will  be  sold  at  the  very  lowest 
figures,  and  will  always  find  purchasers  among  a  certain  class  of 
retailers,  who  will  foist  them  upon  the  people.  The  native  wines 
will  have  to  be  sold  lower  than  the  imported,  and  thus  in  the  com- 
petition, the  profits  on  the  production  of  the  native  article  will 
become  so  small  as  to  barely  secure  a  living  to  the  producer,  and 
this  branch  of  agriculture,  instead  of  growing,  as  it  should,  and  giving 
employment  to  millions  of  capital,  will  slowly  languish  away, 
and  thoLigh  it  may  not  die  out  entirely,  will  dwindle  down  to  insig- 
nificance. Sec  what  revenues  the  French  government  receives 
from  its  v/ines.  Let  us  but  go  on  unimpeded  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  we  will  develop  a  wealth  for  our  government  that  will  exceed 
the  m.ost  sanguine  expectations.  It  will  be  quite  startling  to  the 
public  to  learn  that  what  our  State  exported  and  consumed  of  its 
own  wines,  is  double  the  whole  amount  imported  from  France  into 
the  Uni.ed  States  last  year.  Nevertheless  this  is  true.  And  as  to 
the  revenue  of  the  federal  government,  that  can  never  henceforward 
be  increased  by  the  reduction  of  the  tariff,  for  if  that  is  diminished 
one- half,  double  the  amount  of  wine  will  have  to  be  imported  to 
retain  its  present  figure.  And  if  it  be  policy  for  the  gov- 
ernment to  sacrifice  revenue  on  wines,  it  is  far  better  to  make  that 
sacrifice  to  her  own  wine  producers,  rather  than  to  the  foreign  wine 
exporter. 

I  contend  however,  that  for  the  next  ten  years,  the  duration  of 
the  proposed  treaty,  that  France  will  not  double  her  present 
exportation  to  this  country,  for  the  product  of  our  own  vineyards 
which  are  already  planted  will  be  sold,  though  their  value  de- 
preciate and  their  product  barely  pay  its  gathering.  The  only 
result  of  the  proposed  reduction  in  tariff  therefore,  would  be  a 
diminished  revenue  to  the  United  States,  a  depreciation  of  our 
vineyard  property,  and  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  native  wines 
below  their  cost  of  production.  And  with  the  checked  growth  of 
this  industry,  other  industries  would  suffer,  for  this  is  connected 
with  many  others  ;  see  for  instance  the  carrying  trade ;  the  Central 


31 

Pacific  Railroad  carries  yearly,  overland,  over  six  million  pounds, 
and  in  grapes,  casks  and  wines,  to  and  fro  in  the  interior,  and  for 
shorter  distances,  may  be  twenty  million  pounds  more.  See  the 
Pacific  Mail  steamers  often  sailing  out  of  our  port  with  eio-hty 
thousand  gallons  of  wine  and  brandy  on  a  single  steamer,  and  they 
carry  away  yearly  over  one  and  a  quarter  million  gallons  of  wine. 
Then  look  at  our  numerous  schooners  and  smaller  steamers,  bring- 
ing to  our  city,  besides  the  thousands  of  tons  of  grapes,  fully  three 
million  gallons  of  wine  annually.  What  would  become  of  all  these  ? 
What  is  to  become  of  the  coopers,  who  manufacture  over  two 
million  gallons  capacity  of  new  casks  per  annum?  What  of  the  lum- 
bermen who  saw  wood  for  boxes  and  split  staves  for  casks;  the 
manufacturers  of  glass  for  bottles;  the  iron  works  who  furnish 
hoops,  nails  and  rivets;  the  brass  founders  who  furnish  faucets;  the 
paper  mills  who  manufacture  wrapping  paper,  and  the  printers  who 
print  the  labels?  How  will  all  these  be  affected?  Certainly  not 
beneficially  by  any  Treaty  which  will  either  destroy  or  injure  that 
native  wine  industry  that  needs  so  many  men  and  gives  them  so 
much  work. 

The  importers  of  foreign  wines  have  no  cause  to  complain  of 
the  present  Tariff  of  40  cents  per  gallon.  In  the  first  place  be- 
cause it  was  by  their  consent  that  that  figure  was  adopted.  It  has 
loii'ered  the  duty  on  all  high  grade  wines — and  by  its  operation  no 
extra  duty  is  put  upon  the  spirit  contained  in  fortified  wines.  But 
this  latter  clause  is  a  great  injustice  to  the  producer  of  native  sweet 
wines,  and  is  a  direct  discrimination  against  the  native,  and  in  favor 
of  foreign  productions  of  the  same  character.  And  in  this  matter 
I  refer  to  Appendix  No.  2,  containing  the  report  of  the  Finance 
Committee  of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  submitted  by  Senator  J.  P.Jones, 
upon  the  subject  of  foreign  wines  and  liquors.  From  that  document 
it  will  be  seen  that  any  wines  in  any  foreign  port,  maybe  fortified  with 
spirits  or  brandy  distilled  in  the  United  States,  and  then  pass  our 
Custom  House  without  paying  any  duty,  tax  or  revenue  for  the 
American  or  other  spirits  contained  in  such  wines.  But  if  any  spirits 
or  brandy  are  added  in  our  own  country,  to  our  native  wines,  the 
government  claims  90  cents  per  proof  gallon  upon  every  gallon  or 
part  thereof  that  may  be  added.  Can  there  be  anything  more  un- 
reasonable, more  unfair  lo  the  American  producer?  The  California 
wine  makers  are  dragged  into  Congress  at  almost  every  session; 


32 

not  to  demand  any  new  favors  or  concessions;  not  to  demand  pro- 
tective tariffs;  but  to  defend  themselves  against  annual  schemes 
concocted  to  effect  their  ruin,  similar  to  the  one  now  advocated  by 
Mr.  Chotteau  and  his  colleagues. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  am  called  upon  to  make  this  statement 
on  behalf  of  the  wine  makers  of  California — and  for  this  reason 
that  we  will  unwillingly  be  compelled  to  appear  once  again  in  Con- 
gress. This  statement  may  in  places  appear  aggressive  and  even 
bitter,  but  it  can  n«iiver  compare  in  aggressiveness  to  the  spirit  that 
wa^ed  a  war  of  bitterness  asfainst  our  native  wines  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  and  never  missed  an  opportunity  to  cast  a  slur,  or 
let  loose  a  libel.  This  proposed  treaty  is  merely  a  pretext,  and  by 
its  help,  it  is  hoped  to  throttle  and  crush  us  out.  But  we  have  at 
stake  thirty  millions  of  dollars;  the  daily  bread  of  ten  thousand 
people;  and  twenty-five  of  the  best  years  of  our  lives.  You  will 
therefore  understand  that  we  do  feel  aofpfressive  when  we  remem- 
ber  the  past,  and  see  ourselves  menaced  in  the  future.  Hoping  that 
your  committee  will  now  fully  understand  how  injurious  any  change 
lessening  the  present  tariff  on  wines  and  brandies,  would  be  to  the 
wine  interests  of  our  State,  as  well  as  those  of  the  whole  United 
States;  and  further,  hoping  that  this  statement  may  have  given  you 
a  complete  understanding  of  the  present  importance  and  magnitude 
of  this  industry,  as  well  as  a  clear  insight  into  its  possible  colossal 
development,  I  subscribe  myself. 

Respectfully  yours, 

ARPAD  HARASZTHY, 
President  California  State  Vinicultural  Society. 
San  Francisco,  August,  1879. 


APPENDIX 


[NO.  n 


To  the  statement  •/ 


MR.  ARPAD  HARAZTHY, 
President  of  the  California  State  Vinicultural  Society. 


EXTRACTS  FROM   THE  REPORTS  OF  MR.  C.  A.    WETMORE,   DELEGATE   OF 
THE  SOCIETY  TO  THE  PARIS  EXPOSITION  OF  1878. 


35 


Extracts  from  the  Reports  of  Mr.  C.  A.   JVetmorc,  Delegate  of  the 
California  State  Vini cultural  Society  to  the 
Paris  Exposition  of  187S. 


The  Preparation  of  Pure  and  Imitation  Cognacs. 

Cognac,  September  26th,  1878. — Leaving  Jarnac  and  the  hospitable  mansion 
where  I  was  so  weil  entertained  and  provided  with  every  facility  for  studying  the  pro- 
duction of  genuine  cognacs,  I  came  here  to  complete  my  work  in  this  district. 

Cognac  is  a  city  of  about  sixteen  thousand  inhabitants,  all  supported  by  the  trade 
in  spirits,  passing  current  under  the  name  of  cognacs.  It  is  about  eight  miles  \vest  of 
Jarnac,  on  the  same  stream — the  Charente. 

Having  already  exhausted  the  subject  of  the  production  of  genuine  eaux-dc-v:e, 
which,  as  I  have  already  shown,  is  the  work  of  farmers,  there  only  remains  for  me  to 
continue  the  subject  of  cognacs,  which  are  prepared  from  these  eaux-de-vie,  and  their 
imitations. 

Let  the  reader  remember  that,  strictly  speaking,  cognacs,  as  known  to  the  trade, 
are  not  genuine  pure  brandies.  The  genuine  article  is  that  which  is  produced  by  the 
farmer.  When  it  is  of  the  first  quality,  and  old,  it  is  known  as  Fhie  Champagne, 
Grande  Champagne,  or  Grande  Fine  Champigne.  This  is  much  superior  in  every 
respect  to  the  so  called  cognacs.  But  not  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  gen- 
uine produc:s  of  the  Charente  are  of  this  quality;  one-half,  at  least,  is  composed  of 
the  fourth  quality,  Fins  Bois,  ( Bons  Bois,  Bons  Bois  Supcrieurs,  Bans  Bois  Ordinaires, 
etc.)  Then  there  are,  also,  besides  the  second  and  third  qualities  ('/'^^/'(fj  Champagnes 
and  Borderies),  numerous  brandies  of  the  adjacent  country — the  Charente  Inferieure 
( Aigre/euiUe,  Rochdle,  qX.c.) — and  of  places  more  remote,  which  are  brought  to  Cognac 
for  treaiment.  Hence  the  percentage  oS.  Fine  Champagne  among  all  the  spirits.  Icgiti- 
maiely  distilled  from  wine,  is  small. 

The  world  requires  for  consumption  average  articles;  therefore  there  is  a  legiti- 
mate result  obtained  in  blending  these  various  products.  The  connoisseur  would 
always  prefer  pure  Fine  Champagne  to  cognac;  but  there  are  few  connoisseurs,  and 
therefore  the  world  hears  very  little  about  pure  brandy.  As  Mr.  Curlier  remarked  in 
his  letter,  which  I  have  already  made  use  of,  it  would  be  better  for  the  reputation  of 
brandy  if  consumers  would  demand  the  pure  article  as  it  comes  from  the  farmer. 

COGNACS 

Should  be  classified  into  five  classes,  viz: 

First — Those  in  which  only  pure  brandies  of  one  quality,  or  cru,  such  as  fine 
champagne,  are  diluted  with  distilled  water  to  reduce  strength,  flavored,  sweetened 
with  sugar  to  suit  taste,  and  cobred  with  burnt  sugar  to  suit  custom. 

Second — Those  .which  contain  several  pure  qualities  blended,  reduced,  flavored, 
sweetened  and  colored,     This  forms  the  larger  part   of  pure  cognacs. 


36 

Third — Those  which  are  supposed  to  belong  to  the  first  and  second  class,  but 
which  contain  more,  or  less  of  brandies  in  which  the  farmers  have  mixed  cheaper 
spirits,  such  as  spirits  from  beet-roots,  potatoes,  etc. 

Fourth — Those  which  are  manufactured  by  a  mixture  of  inferior  brandies  of 
cheap  price,  cheap  alcohol  and  Fine  Champagne,  f[z.voxcd,  as  well  as  reduced,  sweetened 
and  colored. 

Fi/ih — Those  which  are  pure  fabrications,  having  common  cheap  alcohol  as  the 
base,  with  foreign  matters  added  to  produce  flavor  and  bouquet. 

Undoubtedly  three-fourths  of  all  the  brandies  known  to  the  world,  and  passing 
under  the  name  of  Cognac,  belong  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  class.  From  all  that  I  can 
learn  here,  I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  much  more  than  one-half  of  all  he  cognacs, 
even  from  this  place,  belong  to  those  two  classes.  Remember,  also,  that  Bordeaux, 
Cette,  IMarseilles  and  Havre,  export  "  cognacs;"  that  quantities  are  also  prepared  in 
all  the  great  cities  where  the  liquor  trade  is  prominent.  I  do  not  except  New  York 
and  Philadelphia.  The  operation  under  the  fifth  class  may  be  conducted  anywhere, 
though  the  experts  of  the  business  are  here,  and  have  the  advantage  of  locality  to  give 
credit  to  their  imitations. 

I  have  tried  to  learn  something  concerning  the  extent  of  the  trade  in  the  first  and 
second  classes,  which  may  be  termed  the  trade  in  genuine  cognacs.  I  find  it  much 
easier  than  might  be  supposed  to  gather  certain  outlines.  Here  the  people  live  entirely 
upon  the  commerce  in  brandy,  and  reputations  of  houses  are  no  secrets,  except  in 
distant  places.  I  find  the  following  houses  have  an  unquestioned  reputation  for  deal- 
ing only  in  genuine  pure  articles  :  Leonin  Arnaud  (formerly  L.  Arnaud  &  Co.,)  Anglers 
Freres  &  Co.,  and  Jules  Caminade  &  Co.,  of  Cognac  ;  Curlier  Freres  &  Co.,  of  Jarnac. 
It  is  said,  also,  that  Hine  &  Co.,  of  Jarnac,  have  had  the  same  reputation  ;  but  I 
found  some  doubt  about  their  present  carefulness,  though  they  are  still  considered 
among  the  few  who  are  choice  in  their  selections. 

These  houses  are  composed  of  gendemen,  who  are  wealthy,  and  take  a  pride  in 
excluding  all  questionable  articles  from  their  stocks.  Messrs.  Angler  Freres  <SCo.  are 
said  to  deal  only  in  old,  as  well  as  genuine  brandies ;  the  others  deal  in  old  and  new, 
according  to  the  demands  of  trade. 

The  foregoing,  however,  are  not  those  which  do  the  largest  business.  A  very  large 
business  cannot  be  done  in  recherche  goods.  I  use  the  word  large  in  its  compuraiive 
sense,  because  there  are  houses  here  whose  business  is  extraordinary. 

The  houses  doing  what  is  called  the  first-class  business  are:  James  Hennessy  &  Co., 
Martell  xn  Co.,  Otard,  Dupuy  &  Co. ,  the  Participation  Charentaise,  Sociele  Anonynu, 
Arbouin  Marett  &  Co.,  Societe  des  Proprietaires  Vinicoles  de  Cognac  (the  United 
Vineyard  proprietors),  and  several  of  those  named  above. 

There  are  half  a  dozen  or  more  named  as  second  class,  with  reference  tothe  amount 
of  business  done,  without  reference  to  the  quality  of  goods.  Hence,  by  not  naming 
them,  I  do  not  mean  to  have  it  inferred  from  what  I  write  that  there  are  not  others 
whose  brandies  are  quite  equal  to  Martell  and  Hennessy.  Perhaps  my  information 
may  be  in  some  points  defective  and  I  should  give  other  names  as  among  the 
first-class.  In  this  respect  I  do  not  expect  to  be  quoted  as  authority;  I  am  giving 
limply  the  best  information  I  can  obtain. 

In  the  little  Directory  of  Cognac  merchants,  which  I  have  before  me,  I  find  a 
large  number,  noticed  in  the  margin  as  dealers  in  "  stuff,"  "imitations,"  ''buncombe 


37 

brands,'' etc.  The  marginal  notes  I  have  made  myself  as  the  result  of  inquiry.  It 
would  be  presumptuous  for  me  to  name  them  and  I  should  be  sorry  to  make  any 
mistakes. 

I  should  say,  respecting  the  well-known  houses  of  Hennessy  &  Co.,  Martell  & 
Co.,  and  some  others,  that  they  have  an  established  trade  reputation  for  dealing  in 
only  the  genuine  cognacs  of  the  first  two  classes  above  nimed;  but  I  do  not  name 
them  among  the  few  who  have  unquestioned  reputations  here  for  dealing  only  in  such 
goods,  for  reasons  which  I  shall  name.  It  is  granted  everywhere  here  that  they  do 
not  practice  any  of  the  illegitimate  operations  with  trois-six  alcohol,  and  that  only 
what  is  represented  as  genuine  brandies  from  the  farmers  ( proprielaires )  come  into 
iheir  magazines;  but  among  the  people  of  the  country,  all  of  whom  are  more  or  less 
informed  on  this  subject,  an  opinion  prevails  that  their  agents  do  not  e.Kercise  the 
same  care  in  selecting  and  purchasing  from  the  farmers  as  do  the  representatives  ot 
the  houses  first  mentioned.  It  is  known  that  the  farmers  generally,  whenever  they 
can  profit  by  it,  either  add  common  alcohol  (tro{s-six)\.o\}i\t\x  wine  before  distillation, 
or  to  their  brandies  afterward.  It  is  only  with  difficulty  that  this  class  of  frauds  can 
be  detected  and  avoided,  and  it  is  asserted  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  as  large  a 
business  as  that  of  the  houses  first  mentioned  and  of  some  others  and  at  the  same  lime 
reject  all  brandies  adulterated  with  common  alcohol.  The  field  for  business  here  is 
not  a  large  one.  It  would  be  a  small  county  in  California.  The  peasants  wink 
shrewdly  when  they  remark  that  I  must  see  the  agents  who  do  the  buying  for  the 
great  houses,  if  I  want  to  know  anything  about  what  comes  into  the  magazines  at 
Cognac,  and  they  very  significantly  suggest  that  some  of  these  agents  make  a  great 
deal  of  money,  which  cannot  be  accounted  for  from  their  salaries.  E.KCepting,  how- 
ever, this  suspected  collusion  between  agents  and  farmers,  whether  with  or  without 
thi  knowledge  of  the  firm  managers,  the  cognacs  of  Martell,  Hennessy,  and  others, 
have  reputations  for  standard  purity. 

MARVELOUS   BUSINESS. 

I  have  been  througn  the  principal  warehouses,  blending  departments,  bottling 
rooms,  cooper  shops  etc.,  of  the  two  great  establishments  of  Hennessy  &  Co.  and 
Martell  &  Co.  In  each  place  1  found  an  accommodating  porter,  or  concierge,  whose 
business  it  seems  to  be  to  show  strangers  these  great  sights. 

I  expected  to  see  great  things,  but  I  was  amazed  at  the  reality.  I  cannot  attempt 
to  describe  fully  what  I  saw.  The  Hennessy  establishment  is  the  largest.  There 
was  a  constant  coming  in  and  going  out  of  wagon  loads  of  tierces  of  brandy;  a  del- 
uge of  spirits  seemed  lo  be  bottled,  barrelled  and  cased.  The  modus  optraiidi 
did  not  appear  to  differ  from  what  I  saw  at  j-^rnac,  but  in  quantity  it  was  almost  be- 
yond comprehension.  There  were  several  hundreds  of  the  great  receiving  vats 
connecting  with  the  blending  department,  each  of  a  capacity  of  thousands  of  gallons. 
Acres  of  casks  full  of  liquid.  The  extent  of  the  business  and  its  briskness  may  be 
imagined  when  I  tell  that  the  quantity  of  brandy  at  Hennessy 's,  bottled,  cased,  and 
despatched  to  the  boats  in  the  river  alongside,  amounts  to  from  eighteen  hundred  to 
two  thousand  cases  per  day — twenty-four  thousand  bottles  a  day.  The  number  of  casks 
filled  and  despatched  must  also  be  great;  but  1  did  not  get  the  figures.  The  floors 
of  the  great  waierooms,  where  the  work  of  filling  and  branding  the  cases  was  go- 
ing on,  were  covered  solidly  and  compactly.     The  briskness  of  the  work  was  shown 


38 

bv  the  bustle  in  the  fire-room,  where  the  brands  were  being  heated.  I  saw  them 
emptying  tierces,  six  at  a  time,  into  the  blending  vats — a  small  river  of  brandy  con- 
stantly in  motion. 

I  felt,  when  I  came  out,  as  though  I  would  strike  the  first  man  who  ever  asked 
me  to  drink  a  glass  of  brandy  again.     The  sight  of  so  much  was  positively  sickening. 

The  remarkable  thing,  after  all,  was  the  healthy,  cheerful  and  sober  appearance 
ot  all  the  men  and  women  employed.  I  did  not  see  one  who  looked  like  a  drunk- 
ard, or  a  toper.  They  can  drink  all  that  they  wish,  but  are  discharged  at  once  if 
found  intoxicated.  I  could  see  no  evil  effects  of  cognacs  here.  Neither  have  I 
seen  any  in  the  town,  though  I  have  wandered  about  in  the  evening  among  the  saloons 
and  caf^s.     It  has  the  air  of  a  very  sob2r  town. 

IMITATION  COGNACS. 

I  have  tried  to  learn  something  concerning  the  imitations  of  cognac  and  I 
have  partially  succeeded.  I  expect  before  long  to  be  provided  with  more  informa- 
mation.       Meanwhile,  I  will  write  briefly  on  the  subject. 

In  the  first  place,  let  me  quote  a  characteristic  remark  made  by  one  to  whom  I 
addressed  some  questions.  He  said:  "It  isn't  that  I  wouldn't  oblige  you;  but  if  we 
should  tell  all  about  how  business  is  done  here,  people  could  make  cognacs  anywhere, 
and  France  would  lose  the  trade." 

Let  me  first  touch  upon  coarse  inferior  brandies,  such  as  those  of  the  loweF 
Charente,  which  have  a  gout  de  terroir  and  other  bad  tastes.  There  is  no  way  to 
remove  the  taste,  yet  the  trade  demands  that  they  shall  go  out  as  cognacs.  They  are 
first  mixed  with  irois-six  (common  alcohol)  to  reduce  the  bad  taste  to  a  minimum- 
Then  the  flavor  and  bouquet  of  genuine  cognac  is  produced  in  several  ways.  One 
is  to  add  a  portion  of  genuine  old  Fine  Champagne,  then  a  little  Jamaica  rum  to 
give  what  is  called  the  rmicio,  and  the  essence  of  cherry  stones  to  produce  the  sligh.ly 
biiter  taste.  Sometimes  the  expense  of  ihe  Fine  Champagne  is  avoided  by  using  what 
is  called  the  she  de  cognac — a  product  of  the  druggist,  which  is  sold  freely.  I  find  it 
advertised  here,  as  well  as  the  she  de  Medoc. 

In  making  imitations  with  only  common  alcohol  as  a  base,  rum  and  the  essence 
of  cherry  stones  are  often  used  to  produce  the  flavors.  The  Balm  of  Tolu  is  also  "a 
good  thing." 

All  these  imitations  go  out  to  the  world  as  "cognac."  They  can  be  made  in 
San  Francisco  as  easily  as  here. 

GRADES  OF  COGNAC. 

All  the  leading  houses  have  different  grades  of  cognac,  which  are  well  known  to 
the  trade,  but  very  little  understood  by  the  consumer.  Courvoisier  brandy  (Curlier 
Freres  &  Co.)  Martel,  Hennessy,  etc.,  when  bottled,  are  designated  by  marks  upon 
the  corks,  indicating  the  grade.  For  instance,  there  are  three  principal  grades  of 
Hennessy,  indicated  by  one,  two,  or  three  stars,  the  quality  progressing  with  the 
number.  There  are  also  special  fine  qualities,  indicated  by  other  marks.  The 
Courvoisier  brandy  has  seven,  or  more  marks,  beginning  with  stars,  one,  two,  three, 
four  and  five,  and  afterward  certain  letters.  New  brandy  is  not  bottled  by  houses 
dealing  in  first-class  articles — such  liquor  is  sent  out  in  casks.  Brandy,  it  should  be 
remembered,  does  not  improve  in  glass;  hence  new  brandy  is  kept  in  wood.  All 
brandy  improves,  the  older  it  gets,  in  wood;  hence  bottling  is  only  done  immediately 
before  sending  cognacs  to  the  markets. 


39 

Brandy,  therefore,  may  be  said  to  be  of  the  purest,  yet  it  may  not  be  of  the  best 
Age,  purity,  and  the  peculiar  excellence  of  certain  vintages  are  required  to  complete 
the  qualifications  of  the  best.  As  the  wine  varies  from  year  to  year,  so  does,  also, 
the  brandy  distilled  from  it. 

THE    GEOGRAPHY    OF    COGNAC    BRANDIES. 

The  area  of  the  Charente  is  a  little  less  than  1,500,000  acres.  Large  portions  of 
it,  on  the  east  and  northeast,  are  not  devoted  to  viticulture,  except  in  small  places. 

It  is  situated  in  tha  region  of  viticulture,  which  continues  northward  from  the 
Gironde,  or  Bordeaux  district,  and  may  be  considered  as  the  northern  limit  of  that 
region.  The  climate  is  freshened  by  the  ocean  breezes  and  rains  are  frequent.  It  is 
a  little  cooler  than  the  climate  of  Bordeaux,  and  a  little  warmer  than  that  of  Paris. 
Taking  the  year  1850  as  an  example,  the  lowest  temperature  was  four  degrees  (centi- 
grade) below  freezing  point,  and  the  highest  34  degrees  above;  four  days  of  snow, 
twelve  of  host,  six  of  tempest,  twelve  of  thunder,  six  of  hail,  twenty-seven  of  fog, 
sixty  four  of  rain,  eighty-three  of  variable  weather,  and  151  of  fine  weather.  Rains 
fell  mostly  from  October  to  February. 

In  the  northeast  there  are  large  forests  and  broken  mountainous  regions. 

From  a  work  on  the  brandies,  etc.,  of  ihe  Charentes,  by  M.  B.  Berauld,  of  this 
place,  I  translate  a  few  passages,  viz: 

"Cm,  called  Grande  Champ.igne,  or  Fine  Champagne.  Champagne  (campus,  or 
campania,  of  the  Romans)  signifies  a  plain  cultivated  in  vines,  or  cereals,  in  distinction 
from  Bois,  or  Socage,  a  place  planted  wiih  trees.  *  *  *  'pj^g  Grande  Cham- 
pagne, between  the  small  stream  Ne  and  the  River  Charente,  comprises  only  twenty- 
one  communes.  The  sub-soil  is  a  whitish,  friable  chalk.  *  *  *  Roots  penetrate 
it  easily,  and  draw  from  it  that  essence  and  mellow  (moelleux)  aroma,  which  have  pro- 
duced so  brilliant  a  fame  for  the  vicinity  of  Cognac.  The  variety  of  vine  which 
produces  the  best  wine  for  distillation  is  \hzfolle  blanche.         *         *         * 

•  ''Petite  Champagne.  The  Petite  Champagne,  which  embraces  a  larger  region 
(about  fifty-five  communes),  is  characterized  by  lands  less  friable  and  less  penetrable, 
It  furnishes,  consequently,  a  less  distinguished  brandy.  The  brandy  is,  however, 
very  delicate,  and  acquires  with  age  the  rancio.  but  in  a  less  degree  than  fine  cham- 
pagne.    *     *     * 

'•'B  rderies.  *  *  *  celebrated  for  white  wines  from  the  colomhar  vine.  It  is 
entirely  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Charente,  the  sub-soil  is  of  rock,  quite  hard,  with 
some  traces  of  gravel  and  chalk.  The  brandy  has  nerve  and  tone.  This  district  com* 
pri.ses  very  few  communes.     *     *     * 

Fins  Bois.  The  circumference  of  the /sr^j  ^o/>  is  quite  variable  and  irregular. 
The  brandy  is  a  little  dr}er,  shorter  (according  to  local  expression),  than  that  of  the 
Borderies.  The  sub-soil  is  a  resisting  chalk,  and,  over  certain  places,  clay  is  the  pre- 
dominant clement.     *     *     * 

"Bans  Bois.  The  geological  nature  of  the  soil  which  forms  the  area  ot  the 
Bons  Bois  is  very  varied.  There  are  often  found,  associated  in  a  certain  degree,  al- 
luvion, clay,  gravel,  sand,  chalk,  etc.  The  number  of  communes  is  three  hundred 
and  fifty.     *     *     * 

"All  the  other  communes  of  the  two  Charentes,  producing  brandy,  which  do  not 
tigure  among  the  above  five  growths,  (crus)  form  a  sixth  class  under  the  name  ol 
Derniers  Bois,  eaux-dt-vie  de  Surghes  d' Aunis,  or  de  la  Rochtllt." 


40 

RELATIVE  VALUES. 

The  relative  values  of  the  different  growths  are  given  by  the  same  author,  as 
follows: 

Supposing  fine  ox  grande  champagne,  to  be  at  105  francs  per  hectolitre,  we  have: 

Grand  Champagne,  1st  choice .105  francs 

"  "  2d  choice 100  francs 

Petite  '•  1st  choice 90  to  95  francs 

*'  "  2d  choice 85  francs 

"  "3d  choice 80  francs 

Borderies,  1st  choice 80  to  85  francs 

"  2d  choice 75  to  80  francs 

Fins  Bois,  1st  choice 75  francs 

"  2d  choice 70  francs 

"  3d  choice 68  francs 

Bens  Bois,  1st  choice 65  francs 

"  2d  choice 63  francs 

"  3d  choice 62  francs 

Derniers  Bois,  1st  choice 57  francs 

"  "  2d  choice 55  francs 

"  "  3d  choice 52  francs 

From  the  foregoing  statement,  remembering  that  the  finest  qualities  are  pro- 
duced in  least  quantity,  (excepting  the  Borderies)  the  commercial  advantage  in  blend- 
ing the  cheaper  with  the  finer  is  made  apparent.  It  also  shows  how  variable  the 
price  of  genuine  cognaes  may  be,  when  produced  by  blending,  the  quality  and 
value  varying  with  the  proportions  of  each  kind  used. 

COGNACS  IN  EXCESS  OF  PRODUCTION  OF    PURE  BRANDY. 

The  quantity  of  cognacs  sent  out  from  the  town  of  Cognac  in  1872,  was  331,- 
469  hectolitres,  or  more  than  seven  million  gallons,  representing  the  product  of 
about  fifty  million  gallons  of  wine,  supposing  all  to  have  been  genuine.  This  is 
without  estimating  the  quantities  sent  from  other  parts  of  Charente,  also,  that  which 
goes  out  by  way  of  Bordeaux,  which  is  said  to  be  one-third  of  the  whole.  I  expect 
to  get  accurate  statistics,  when  I  return  to  Paris,  from  the  official  records. 

I  give,  in  the  foregoing  paragraph,  statistics  from  Mr.  Berauld's  work.  I  wish 
yet  to  know  what  is  the  importation  of  trois-six  alcohol  into  this  district,  in  order  to 
compare  the  respective  quantities  of  brandies  actually  produced  with  those  sent  out, 
and  so  to  determine  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  relative  amount  of  trois-six, 
which  even  Cugnac  sends  to  the  world  under  the  name  of  cognac. 

Dr.  Lunier  gives,  in  his  tables  of  statistics,  as  the  production  of  alcohol  from  wine, 
in  1873  : 

Charente 59, 050  hectolitres 

Charente-Inf^rieure 60,566         " 

This  was  a  year  of  small  production.  Let  me  compare  figures  for  1859,  as 
Berauld  does  not  give  statements  for  1873. 

According  to  Dr.  Lunier,  actual  production  was: 

Charente 120,290  hectolitres 

Charente-Inf^rieure 75,291         " 


41 

The  quantities  produced  in  oiher  regions  within  easy  reach  of  Cognac  were 
comparatively  very  small.     Adding  the  two  above   and  we  have    195,581  hectolitres. 

Of  this  only  the  first  part  was  genuine,  fine  flavored  brandy.  The  rest,  if  all 
used  at  Cognac,  must  have  been  manipulated  to  produce  cognac,  as  I  have  above 
described  Berauld  gives  the  quantity  of  cognacs  sent  out  from  the  town  of  Cognac 
in  1850  as  343,282  hectolitres,  to  which,  I  am  told,  must  be  added  at  least  one-third 
sent  by  way  of  Bordeaux.  How  to  account  for  such  an  enormous  diff'erence  between 
the  expedition  of  cognacs  and  the  production  of  genuine  brandy,  is  not  easy,  but  it 
is  evident  that  a  large  margin  must  be  made  for  the  use  of  /rois-six,  beet-root  and 
other  common  alcohols.  Berauld  gives,  as  the  quantity  of  cognacs  annually  expe- 
dited from  Cognac,  (not  counting  from  Bordeaux),  at  from  350,000  to  400,000  hec- 
tolitres, valued  at  from  fifty  to  seventy  million  francs,  (ten  to  fourteen  million  dollars.) 

THE  RAVAGES  OF  PHYLLOXERA 

Extend  all  the  way  from  Jarnac  to  this  place,  and,  indeed,  over  all  the  country  to  the 
south,  as  far  as  the  river  Gironde.  It  is  only  that  portion  of  the  Bordeaux  district, 
which  is  known  as  the  Medoc,  where  the  famous  clarets  are  produced,  that  is  yet  free 
from  severe  injury. 

THE  USES  OF  COGNAC. 

In  my  letters  from  London,  I  treated  upon  thejiygienic  uses  of  wines  and 
spirits.  Among  the  latter,  especially  for  old  and  feeble  persons,  fine  brandy  ranks 
first.  Containing  only  ethyllic  alcohol,  if  old,  it  also  contains  many  ethers,  which 
produce,  no  doubt,  much  of  the  beneficial  effect,  promoting  sleep,  as  well  as  stimulat- 
ing digestion.     In  medicine  it  ranks  first  among  all  spirits. 

C.  A.  W. 


Bordeaux  Wines. 

Bordeaux,  October  14th,  1878. — It  is  now  more  than  tw^o  weeks  since  I  returned 
here  from  Cognac,  and  I  have  not  until  now  found  time  to  continue  mv  correspon- 
dence. This  lias  been  the  busy  vintage  season.  I  have  seen  the  operations  at  the 
principal  vineyards  in  the  Medoc,  Graves  and  Sauterne  regions,  and  have  given  all 
spare  tmie  to  investigations  of  commercial  quesiions,  especially  those  afTecting  the 
wines  exported  to  the  United  States. 

I  have  found  here  a  great  many  works  on  the  subjects  of  wines,  vine  culture,  wine 
treatment,  falsifications,  philloxera,  etc.,  which  1  failed  to  find  in  Paris,  and  have  thus 
succeeded  in  completing  quite  a  useful  and  comprehensive  collection.  I  am  im- 
pressed, however,  now  more  particularly  widi  llie  idea  of  the  impossibility  of  attempt- 
ing in  this  correspondence  to  treat  upon  more  than  a  few  of  the  points  which  appear 
to  be  of  the  most  importance  to  the  producer  and  the  consumer. 

First  of  all,  I  will  say  something  about  the  genuine  characteristic  wines  produced  in 
this  region  of  France,  which,  however,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  so  far  as  the  foreign  com- 
merce and  the  consumption  even  in  the  large  cities  of  France  are  concerned,  is  the 
least  important  branch  of  the  wine  question  to  the  consumer.  I  can  find  little  en- 
couragement or  comfort  here  for  the  average  wine-drinker,  who  is  fond  of  claret  and 
sauterne,  but  who  does  not  know  how  to  protect  his  stomach  against  imposition  and 


42 

his  pocket  against  extortionate  prices.  The  genuine  wines  are,  however,  worthy  of  all 
the  eulogy  that  can  be  given  them.  They  are  the  gastronomic  wonders  of  the  world, 
on  the  reputation  of  which  a  vast  and  overgrown  trade  has  grown  fat,  rich,  unscrupu- 
lous and  greedy. 

BORDEAUX  WHINES. 

I  will  first  speak  of  Bordeaux  wines,  which  are  properly  so  called,  viz:  the  wines 
produced  in  this  vicinity,  in  the  Department  of  the  Gironde.  The  reader  must  re- 
member that  Bordeaux  wines  in  commerce  comprise  vastly  more  than  this,  including 
not  only  great  quantities  of  mixtures  of  wines  from  all  parts  of  the  south  of  France, 
from  Spain,  Portugal  and  Italy,  but  many  imitations  and  falsifications,  for  which  this 
place  is  obtaining  as  unenviable  a  reputation  as  that  of  Cclte  and  INIarseilles, 

The  region  of  the  Gironde  comprises  a  large  viticultural  area,  lying  about  the 
lower  waters  of  the  rivers  Garonne  and  Dordogne  and  the  Gironde,  which  last  unites 
the  first  two  near  the  Atlantic.  The  Dordogne  liows  westerly  from  the  centre  of  the 
southern  half  of  France  ;  the  Garonne  flows  northwesterly  from  the  lower,  or  foot 
hills  of  the  Pyrenees.  The  Gironde  is,  properly  speaking,  an  arm  of  the  ocean, 
similar  to  a  Scotch  firth,  where  the  tide  ebbs  and  flows. 

Between  the  Garonne  and  its  continuation  in  the  Gironde,  on  the  east,  and  the 
ocean,  on  the  west,  there  is  a  narrow  territor}',  similar  in  outline  and  extent  to  the 
peninsula  of  San  Francisco,  lacking,  however,  the  mountainous  topography.  It  is  on 
the  east  slope  of  this  section,  facing  the  Garonne  and  Gironde,  that  the  celebrated 
Bordeaux  wines  are  produced.  The  western  slope — about  one-half — is  a  desert  of 
gravel,  sand  plains  and  sand  dunes,  where  the  viaritime  pine  grows  in  scrubby  forests. 
The  viticultural  area  is,  therefore,  comparatively  small  ;  but,  being  almost  exclusively 
devoted  to  vines,  the  product  of  wine  is  large.  This  area  is  divided,  according  to 
viticultural  charts,  into  three  sections — the  Medoc,  Graves  and  Vins  Blancs  (white 
wines).  Each  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  river  and  on  the  west  by  the  gravel  and 
sand  deserts,  called  Landes.  South  of  this  section  is  the  Department  of  Landes,  a 
sandy  countrv,  where  the  sheep-tending  inhabitant  use  stilts  to  walk  upon.  Bordeaux 
is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Garonne,  in  the  centre  of  the  east  slope  of  the 
Graves.  The  Medoc  comprises  the  slope  north  from  the  Graves,  along  the  Gironde, 
to  its  mouth  at  the  ocean.  The  Medoc  has  salt  water  of  the  Gironde  on  its  east  ; 
the  sand  plains  and  dunes  and  ocean  on  the  west.  The  Vins  Blancs  (region  of  Sau- 
ternes)  is  the  slope  further  inland,  next  to  the  Graves,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Garonne. 

The  Dordogne  unites  with  the  Garonne  and  flows  into  the  Gironde  near  the 
commencement  of  the  Medoc.  The  section  between  the  Dordogne  and  Garonne,- 
opposite  the  slopes  of  the  Graves  and  Vins  Blancs,  is  called  En/re-deux-3fers  (between 
two  seas),.     This  is  classed  as  a  distinctive  viticultural  section. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  Dordogne,  going  westward,  are  the  sections,  Libournais, 
Fronsadais  and  Blayais.  The  Blayais  extend  past  the  junction  of  the  Garonne  and 
Dordogne  and  along  the  east  bank  of  the  Gironde  half  way  to  the  ocean.  Then 
comes  the  western  extremity  of  the  Department  of  Lower  Charente. 

These  are  the  seven  vine-growing  regions  of  the  Gironde.  Southeast,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Garonne,  is  the  Department  of  Lot-et-Garonne;  northeast,  along  the 
Dordogne,  is  the  Department  of  Dordogne;  and,  following  further  north,  we  find  the 
Charente,  the  other  principal   section   of  this  southwestern   vine-growing   region   of 


43 

France.  The  Department  of  Landes,  in  the  slopes  of  the  Pyrenees,  has  vine-growinf 
regions,  but  the  wines  are  ordinary. 

Throughout  the  entire  region  lying  about  the  junction  of  the  Dordogne  and 
Garonne,  the  soils,  excepting  in  the  narrow  and  irregular  stretches  of  bottom  lands  of 
recent  alluvial  formation,  arc  more  or  less  gravelly.  The  gravel  consists  of  washed 
quartz  stones,  varj-ing  in  size  from  small  particles  to  pieces  as  large  as  hens'  eggs,  the 
average  being  pebbles  of  walnut  size,  generally  oval.  This  gravel  formation  predom- 
inates in  the  three  sections,  INIedoc,  Graves  and  Vms  Blancs,  between  the  Garonne 
and  the  ocean.  It  is  where  the  gravel,  in  a  soil  of  sandy  loam,  overlying  a  sub-soil 
of  impervious  conglomerate  quartz  gravel  and  iron,  and  sometimes  of  clay,  forms 
eight-tenths  of  the  constituents  of  the  surface  soil,  that  the  most  celebrated  wines  are 
produced. 

The  narrow  stretches  of  bottom  lands,  called  Palus,  furnish  an  eighth  classifica- 
tion of  Gironde  wines. 

Without  deducting  the  areas  on  the  north  side,  which  have  been  destroyed  by 
phylloxera,  the  aggregate  of  vineyards  of  the  Gironde  covers  about  four  hundred  thou- 
sand acres.  In  1840  the  area  of  vineyards  was  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand acres.  The  demand  for  Bordeaux  wines,  the  reputation  of  which  was  created 
by  the  wines  of  the  INTedoc  and  Graves,  has  been  greater  than  the  supply;  hence> 
not  only  ever)'  available  spot  in  this  department  has  been  reduced  to  vine  culture,  but 
also  the  neighboring  departments,  and  even  the  Midi,  along  the  Mediterranean  and 
the  Rhone,  and  Spain,  have  been  stimulated  to  furnish  supplies  to  be  worked  over  and 
blended  in  the  cellars  of  Bordeaux.  About  one-fourth  of  the  product  of  Gironde 
vineyards  is  white  wine. 

THE    RED    WINES. 

Among  the  red  wines,  which  are  all  clarets,  are  those  which  have  qualities  so  su- 
perior to  the  ordinar}'  average  of  French  wines,  that  they  are  classed,  not  only  by  dis- 
trict, such  as  M6doc,  Graves,  Cotes  (the  hillsides  among  the  Blayais,  etc.),  but  more 
generally  and  particularly  by  the  commune  in  which  they  are  produced.  For  instance, 
the  Medoc  wines  as  a  class  lead  all  others;  but  the  M6doc  is  divided  into  small  com- 
munes, smaller  than  our  townships,  often  not  more  than  one  or  two  square  miles,  and 
the  wines  are  known  by  the  names  of  the  communes,  as  for  instance,  Pauillac,  St. 
Julien,  Margaux,  etc.  Then  come,  also,  the  distinctions  of  individual  vineyards, 
generally  called  after  the  name  of  the  Chateau,  the  name  being  generally  that  of  the 
present  or  some  former  proprietor.  Here  these  distinctions  are  well  known,  but  there 
are  comparatively  few  known  to  the  wine  drinkers  of  the  world  outside  of  France. 

The  commerce  in  wines  has  become  so  great  in  this  city  that,  for  the  benefit  o^ 
the  trade,  certain  well  known  and  favorite  products  of  single  vineyards,  where  the 
culture  and  wine-making  is  systematically  careful  and  the  annual  results  have  been  so 
generally  fine  as  to  preserve  their  reputation  through  many  years,  have  been  singled 
out  as  "  fine  wines''  and  classified.  This  classification  is  more  or  less  arbitrary,  con- 
troled  by  the  taste  of  the  wine-brokers  and  is  seldom  changed.  Ofien  wines  not 
classed  turn  out  belter  than  wines  which  are  classed  ;  often  a  high-classed  wine  is 
poorer  and  cheaper  here  than  one  lower  classed;  but  the  consumer  in  foreign  coun" 
tries  knows  little  about  the  differences  of  vintages,  or  of  the  relative  values  of 
Chateau  Lafite  of  18G8  and  .1869.  In  Russia,  for  instance,  the  ordinary  v/ine  con- 
sumer only  knows  two  kinds  of  wine,  so  I  am  told — Chateau  Lafite  of  five  grades  and 


44 

Chateau  Yquem  of  five  grades;  one  is  generic  lor  all  clarets,  and  the  otlier  for  all 
white  wines.     It  is  much  the  same  with  us  in  the  United  States. 

These  great  vineyards,  however,  have  fairly  won  their  reputations,  and  now  their 
names  serve  as  representatives  of  certain  standards  of  merit  and  relative  values.  It  is 
in  the  interest  of  the  trade  here  to  keep  the  classification  of  "fine  wines  "  undis- 
turbed; because  if  changed  annually  according  to  real  merits  of  the  vintage,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  keep  up  the  illusions  in  the  foreign  markets,  and  the  enormous 
profits  on  poor  vintages  would  be  lost.  Chateau  Margaux,  for  instance,  always  com- 
mands a  high  price  with  the  consumer,  regardless  of  the  fact  that,  since  18G8,  there 
have  only  been  only  two  choice  vintages — 1870  and  1874 — the  products  of  the  other 
years  having  sold  cheaply  to  the  merchants  who  control  the  trade.  These  may  be 
called  the  "  fancy  wines,''  as  well  as  the  "  fine  wines,"  because  often  they  turn  out 
quite  ordinary  in  quality,  while  their  names  are  al\va}-s  fashionable. 

The  demand  for  celebrated  wines  is  also  much  larger  than  the  supply  ;  but  this 
demand  comes  from  the  foreigner  ;  it  is  difficult  to  humbug  the  Frenchman,  who  is 
near  by,  and  knows  the  difference  between  real  and  fancy  prices.  The  Frenchmjwi's 
fancy  wine  is  that  which  is  classed  according  to  the  name  of  the  commune,  as  St. 
Julien,  Pauillac,  Margaux,  St.  Estephe,  etc.;  but  he  thinks  he  is  extravagant  when 
he  calls  for  St.  Julien,  instead  of  7me  bouteille  de  bon  vin  ordinaire  or  for  a  simple  vin 
rouge  supeneur.  If  he  is  at  all  experienced,  he  knows  that  he  has  as  little  chance  of 
getting  a  genuine  St.  Julien  as  the  American  has  of  getting  a  Chateaux  Margaux,  if 
he  calls  for  it.  The  Frenchman  saves  himself,  however,  from  paying  the  fancy  price 
of  the  Chateau  and  pays  only  the  fancy  price  of  the  commune.  In  the  United 
States,  St.  Julien  and  Medoc  are  the  terms  ordinarily  applied  to  the  claret  which  is 
lowest  on  the  list,  while,  in  truth,  St.  Julien  and  INIedoc  would  be  terms  which  should 
honestly  stand  the  highest  on  the  claret  list  of  nine-tenths  of  the  best  restaurants  and 
hotels  in  the  country  ;  but  if  this  were  done,  the  profit  of  selling  St.  Julien  for  Cha- 
teau Leoville,  and  Margaux  for  Chateau  Margaux,  and  Pauillac  for  Chateau  Lafite, 
would  be  lost  to  the  dealer.  There  is  very  little  of  the  high-classed  wines  that  goes 
to  even  the  first-class  hotels  and  restaurants  in  America;  in  fact,  as  I  shall  show  pres- 
ently, there  is  very  little  to  go  anywhere,  and  yet  every  nation  in  the  world  is  drinking 
the  labels.  I  am  having  prepared  here  an  abstract  of  invoices  to  the  United  States, 
as  I  have  already  done  at  Marseilles  and  Cette,  and  I  shall  be  able  to  prove  to  the 
consumer  that,  unless  he  buys  his  wine  by  the  case  from  the  regular  agent  of  one  of 
the  few  first-class  houses  here,  he  stands  as  good  a  chance  to  win  a  lottery  prize  as  he 
does  to  get  Chateau  Lafite,  Margaux,  Latour,  etc.,  no  matter  what  price  he  pays,  at 
any  restaurant,  or  hotel,  or  elsewhere,  by  the  bottle.  Yet  they  stand  a  better  chance 
to  succeed  in  England  than  in  Paris,  for  these  fancy  wines  only  go  to  Paris  as  curi- 
osities. 

The  retail  dealers  have  a  great  interest  everywhere  in  keeping  up  the  fiction  of 
"fancy  wines,"  so  that  they  may  demand  fancy  prices  for  wines  bottled  by  themselves, 
or  by  the  jobber,  from  casks  of  ordinary  wine  sold  by  the  importer,  or  commission 
agent,  through  a  broker,  by  sample.  There  is,  however,  also  a  large  interest  in  keep- 
ing up  the  same  classification  here  ;  but  it  is  not  the  interest  of  the  owners  of  the 
celebrated  vineyards  which  controls,  but  the  interest  of  the  multitude  of  wine  mer- 
chants and  speculators.  It  is  only  a  small  combination  of  very  rich  houses,  which  buys 
and  controls  the  four  first  classed  wines,  and  their  efforts  to  hold  the  control  keep  up 


45 

the  prices  paid  to  the  vineyards,  bul  ihey  get  repaid  in  the  reputation  it  gives  their 
houses  by  being  known  as  having  purchased  the  wine.  T.alande  &  Co.  bought  the 
whole  of  Chateau  Yquem  one  year  ;  Barton  &  Gucstier,  Lalande  and  two  others 
bought  all  of  Lafite  of  1874.  A  man,  whom  the  celebrated  merchants  style  as  a 
"speculator,"  has  all  of  Chateau  INIargaux  of  1874.  A  German  house  has  all  of 
Chateau  Latour  for  the  same  year.  Since  1870  there  has  been  only  one  fine  vintage 
— that  of  1874;   hence  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  "  fine  wine  "  gets  locked  up. 

Chateau  Leoville,  in  the  commune  of  St.  Julien,  was  divided  and  sold  ;  one 
quarter,  Leoville-Poyfere,  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Lalande  ;  another  quarter,  Leo- 
ville Barton,  is  the  property  of  Barton,  of  Barton  &  Guestier.  Barton  also  owns  the 
adjoining  Chateau  Langoa,  and  Lalande  owns  Chateau  Brown-Cantenac,  or  Boyd,  as 
it  is  sometimes  called.  Nathaniel  Johnston,  another  leading  merchant,  owns  Chateau 
Ducru-Beaucaillou  and  Chateau  Dauzac. 

It  is  comparatively  easy  for  eight  or  ten  houses  to  control,  almost  absolutely,  the 
crops  of  all  the  vineyards  classed  among  those  producing  fine  wines.  This  is  practically 
what  is  done.  Yet  such  is  the  distrust  of  the  commercial  world  that  even  such  a 
highly  reputed  house  as  that  of  Barton  &.Guestier  is  required,  generally,  by  customers 
to  deliver  Chateau  Lafite,  with  the  stamp  of  the  Chateau  on  the  corks,  rather  than 
their  own,  and  they  are  obliged,  therefore,  after  purchasing  the  whole,  or  a  part  of  a 
year's  crop,  to  leave  the  wine  at  the  Chateau  until  bottled.  There  are  a  few  houses — 
the  number  is  so  small  that  they  can  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand — which 
have  such  fine  reputations  that  their  stamps  on  casks  or  bottles  are  considered  by  the 
public  and  the  trade  as  a  guaranty  that  the  contents  are  true  to  label  or  mark  ;  but 
the  great  majority  do  not  hesitate  to  substitute  false  labels,  or  to  lend  their  hand  to 
assist  the  sale  of  inferior  articles  according  to  the  demand  of  trade. 

There  are  few  merchants  here  who  would  reply  to  an  order  for  Chateau  this  or 
Chateau  that,  that  the  order  could  not  be  filled.  The  real  differences  between  first, 
second,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  grades  of  the  classed  "  fine  wines  "  in  ordinar)-  years 
are  so  small  that  only  the  experienced  connoisseur  can  detect  them  ;  yet  the  conven- 
tional prices  vary  greatly.  Hence  an  order  for  Lafite,  which  cannot  be  filled,  because 
the  merchant  cannot  afford  to  pay  the  price  of  the  holders,  may  be  filled  with  impun- 
ity by  substituting  a  fourth  or  fifth  class  wine.  The  consumer  will  not  know  the  dif- 
ference ;  the  agent  to  whom  it  is  sent  is  satisfied  by  a  reasonable  price,  and  the  mer- 
chant here  makes  a  handsome  profit.  But  there  are  also  lots  of  outside  wines  which 
turn  out  exceptionally  fine  in  certain  years  :  these  can  also  be  used  to  fill  out  order^ 
for  the  high-classed  wines.  There  is  nothing  to  protect  the  consumer  against  this 
class  of  frauds,  except  a  knowledge  of  the  authentic  stamps  of  the  Chateaus  upon  the 
corks,  if  bottled  by  the  producers,  or  a  knowledge  of  the  reputations  of  the  houses, 
whose  stamps  are  used  instead.  These  are  often  counterfeited.  I  have  tried  to  dis- 
cover some  accurate  method  for  identifying  the  genuine  wines,  as  they  pass  to  the 
consumer,  but  it  is  impossible  ;  so  much  wine  is  disposed  of  in  casks  that  nothing  less 
than  an  exhaustive  search  in  each  instance,  and  thorough  investigation  of  amounts  sold 
could  be  relied  upon. 

Reliance  upon  cither  the  brands  of  the  Chateaus  upon  the  corks,  or  on  the  few 
reliable  houses,  such  as  Barton  &  Guestier,  Nathaniel  Johnston  &.  Sons,  Cruze  Fils  et 
Frcrcs,  ami  Lalande  Sc  Co.,  who  originally  send  the  wines  from  here,  is  the  sole  means 
of  protecting  the  consumer  from  rubbery.     It  may  be  generally  said  that  these  fine 


46 

•wines  are  always  exported  in  bottle,  with  such  brands  on  the  corks.  The  simple 
printed  labels  pasted  upon  the  bottles,  such  as  Chateau  Margaux,  etc.,  are  of  no  im- 
portance whatever,  unless  accompanied  by  the  authentic  brands  upon  the  corks.  I 
have  purchased,  since  I  have  been  here,  samples  of  all  such  labels,  the  prices  per 
thousand  bein?  given  in  each  instance.     Orders  for  these  labels  can  be  easily  filled. 

The  frauds  of  this  kind  are  of  the  least  criminality,  for  often  the  substituted 
wine  is  just  as  good  as  the  one  called  for,  the  difference  being  only  in  price,  wh  ch  is 
paid  for  the  privilege  of  using  a  fancy  label.  But  there  are  also  the  frauds  of  imita- 
tions, cheap  wines  being  "  doctored  "  and  labeled  to  suit  any  demand  and  any  coun- 
tr}-.  Below  I  shall  give  the  names  of  all  the  "  classed  "  vineyards  and  their  average 
annual  product.  The  reader  may  consider,  first,  the  quantity  as  an  annual  supply, 
and  then  think  of  the  demand,  remembering  that  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to 
India,  China,  Russia,  Turkey,  Sweden,  Germany,  Holland,  Austria,  Italy,  England, 
Canada,  United  States,  Mexico,  South  America — everywhere — the  labels  of  these 
great  wines  are  found  in  restaurants,  hotels  and  retail  shops.  He  may  even  wonder 
whether  there  is  enough  to  supply  the  demand  of  England  alone,  the  favored  cus- 
tomer. 

But  the  labels  are  standards  of  price  rather  than  of  real  value  and  merit,  and  work 
out  many  fortunes  in  the  course  of  the  transit  from  producer  to  consumer.  Hence 
there  is  a  great  interest  in  keeping  up  the  notoriety  of  a  few  names.  Among  all  the 
classed  wines  below,  the  reader,  unless  an  expert  and  in  the  trade,  will  recognize  but 
few  as  familiar  labels.  Hence  again,  the  less  his  chance  of  getting  wine  true  to  label 
and  value.  I  am  writing  for  the  benefit  of  the  ordinar)'  consumer,  who  is  lucky  if 
he  gets  anything  equal  to  a  genuine  St.  Julien,  or  even  "  M^doc,"  which  to  him 
ought  to  be  the  standard  of  a  wine  of  luxury,  if  he  drinks  foreign  wine,  with  many 
grades  of  vin  ordinaire  beneath  it.  In  restaurants  in  France  the  average  difference 
between  the  price  of  the  vin  ordinaire,  served  without  special  orders,  and  St.  Julien 
is  from  three  to  four  hundred  per  cent.  I  refer  to  St.  Julien,  often,  because  in  the 
United  States  it  generally  occupies  upon  restaurant  wine  lists  the  lowest  place. 

This,  however,  has  reference  to  wines,  supposing  them  to  be  pure,  and  only 
falsely  labeled  to  obtain  the  prices  of  "  fancy ''  wines;  I  shall  afterwards  show  what 
quantities  of  wines  go  to  the  United  States,  colored,  blended,  fortified  and  made  to 
imitate  fine  wines  by  means  of  bouquets  and  dyes  prepared  by  chemists.  A  cent's  worth 
o{  bouquet  is  made  to  sell  for  many  dollars  in  America  and  in  the  "  Colonies."  So  far 
as  the  wine  trade  is  concerned,  the  United  States  is  still  among  the  "C  donies."  I 
bought  a  sample  of  a  popular  bouquet  yesterday  for  thirty-five  cents.  It  is  in  a  little 
bottle — about  two  ounces — and  the  directions  indicate  its  use,  piur  vieillir  et  bonifiir  a 
whole  barrel  of  wine.  Th^ /leur  de  Bordeaux,  ?is  well  as  \.\\q.  Jlcur  de  Bougogne,  are 
similar  agents.'  It  may  be  that  they  are  quite  harmless,  but  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  the  wine  would  be  quite  as  beneficial  without  this  chemical  bouquet,  which  would 
not  be  added  if  consumers  were  wise  enough  to  expect  and  call  for  only  ordinary  wine 
in  ordinary  places.  But  to  the  uninitiated  consumer  a  bottle  of  wine,  worth,  bottle 
and  all,  twenty  cents  in  Bordeaux,  with  the  addition  of  the  tenih  of  a  cent's  worth  of 
this  bouquet,  and  an  equal  worth  of  fuchsine,  or  cochenille,  becomes  Chateau  the 
Greal — price  three  or  four  dollars  the  bottle.  It  is  very  consoling  to  the  "  Colonist," 
who  suffers  so  many  deprivations,  to  know  that  his  trustworthy  merchant  keeps  him 
always  supplied  with  the  finest  wines,  which  are  so  scarce,  even  in  France! 


47 

But  the  reputation  of  the  great  wines  of  Bordeaux  was  established  before  the 
commerce  of  Bordeaux  labeled  so  many  rivers  of  wine  with  their  names.  I  will  give 
them,  as  they  have  been  arbitrarily  classed  by  the  Syndicate  of  Wine  Brokers  of  the 
Bourse  of  Bordeaux.  The  word  cru  is  the  techriical  French  term  for  the  crop  or 
yield,  of  a  single  vineyard.  The  classes  oi  cms  are  in  the  order  of  merit,  or  conven- 
tonal  value.  With  the  exception  of  Chateau  Haut-Brion,  they  are  all  in  the 
IMedoc  wine  section.  Haut-Brion  is  in  the  Graves,  a  short  distance  from  the  city. 
The  figures  indicate  the  average  yield  in  tomieaux,  as  given  by  the  best  authorities- 
The  totvieau  is  equal  to  about  240  gallons.  The  name  of  the  commune  follows  the 
name  of  the  vineyard,  the  name  by  which  the  wine  is  generally  known,  with  slight 
variations. 

lersCnis. — Chateau-Lafite,  Pauillac,  140;  Chateau-Margaux,  Margaux,  100; 
Chateau-Latour,  Pauillac,  125;  Chateau-Haut-Brion,  Pessac,  100. 

2es  Cms. — Mouton,  Pauillac,  20;  Rauzan-Segla,  Margaux,  60;  Rauzan-Gassies, 
Id.,  45;  Leoville-Lascases,  Saint-Julien,  125;  Leoville-Poyfere,  Id.,  80;  Leoville-Bar- 
ton.  Id.,  75;  Durfort-Vivens,  Margaux,  45;  Lascombes,  Id.,  25;  Gruau-Larose 
Sarget,  Saint-Julien,  90;  Gruau-Larose,  Id.,  80;  Brane-Cantenac,  Cantenac,  100; 
Pichon-Longueville,  Pauillac,  55;  Pichon-Longueville-Lalande,  Id.,  50;  Ducru-Beau- 
caillou,  Saint-Julien,  110;  Cos-d'Estournel,  Saint- Estephe,  150;  Montrose,  Id.,  150. 

^es  Cms. — Kirwan,  Cantenac,  70;  Chateau-d'Issan,  Id.,  100;  Lagrange, 
Saint-Julien,  200;  Langoa,  Id.,  125;  Giscours,  Labarde,  100;  Malescot-Saint- 
Exupery,  Margaux,  150;  Brown  Cantenac  (Boyd),  Cantenac,  100;  Palmer,  Id., 
125;  La  Lagune,  Ludon,  GO;  Desmirail,  Margaux,  150;  Calon-Segur,  Saint- Estephe, 
150;  Ferriere,  Margaux,  10;  Becker,  Id.,  20. 

Aes  Cms. — Saint-Pierre,  .Saint-Julien,  50;  Id.,  Id.,  40;  Branaire-du-Luc,  Id., 
150;  Talbot,  Id.,  100;  Duhart,  Milon,  Pauillac,  100;  Pouget,  Cantenac,  40;  La 
Tour-Carnet,  .Saint-Laurent,  30;  Rochet,  Saint-Estephe,  50;  Chateau-Beycheville, 
Saint-Julien,  160;  La  Prieure,  Cantenac,  40;  Mis  de  Therme,  Margaux,  60. 

hes  Cms. — Pontet-Canet,  Pauillac,  180;  Batailley,  Id.,  110;  Grand-Puy-Lacoste, 
Id.,  130;  Ducasse-Grand-Puy,  Id.,  100;  Lynch-Bages,  Id.,  00;  Lynch-Moussass,  Id., 
90;  Dauzac,  Labarde,  90;  Mouton-d'Armaillacq,  Pauillac,  150;  Le  Tertre,  Arsac, 
85;  Haute-Bages,  Pauillac,  GO, 

Belgrave,  Saint-Laurent,  80;  Camensac,  Id.,  40;  Cos-Labory,  Saint-Estephe, 
40;  Pedesclaux,  Pauillac,  20;  Clerc-Milon,  Id.,  50;  Croizet-Bages,  Id.,  65;  Canter- 
merle,  Macau,  200. 

The  reader  may  pick  out  familiar  names,  add  up  the  number  of  ionneaux,  re- 
duce them  to  gallons,  and  see  what  the  quantity  is  to  supply  the  demand  of  the 
world.  I  think  that  there  will  be  few  who  can  recognize  more  than  ten  as  tamiliar  to 
restaurant  and  hotel  lists,  and  few  more  familiar  to  family  butlers.  Of  the  four  first 
classed,  together  with  the  Leovilles,  Larose  and  Pontet-Canet,  so  well  known  by 
name  in  every  city  and  town,  there  is  a  total  annual  supply  in  good  years  of  262,800 
gallons;  and  this  is  the  quantity  that  the  whole  world  draws  upon  to  supply  the  de- 
mand for  those  labels.  If  the  United  States  should  get  as  much  as  ten  per  cent,  ol 
this  quantity,  our  share  would  be  26,000  gallons.  Last  year  we  imported  only 
4,500,000  gallons  of  wine,  and  consumed,  including  native  wines,  at  least  15,000,- 
000  gallons.  I  will  hereafter  try  to  show  what  is  the  real  proportion  of  "fine  wines" 
actually  invoiced  to  the  United  States,  supposing  iliem  to  be  genuine  when  they  start 
from  France. 


48  '    '] 

ORDI\AR\    WIXES. 

After  naming  ihe  classified  ^ra/u/s  rrus,  as  above,  it  is  useless  to  talk  to  the  av- 
erage consumer,  who  cannot  devote  his  life  to  the  study  of  wines,  about  the  numer- 
ous lower  grades  of  wines,  all  of  which  arc  generically  called  clarets.  They  arc  more 
varied  in  merit  and  value  than  the  above  named,  which,  though  divided  into  five 
grades,  are  all  one  class  of  "fine  wines."  There  is  more  difference  between  a  bour- 
geois superieiir  of  Pauillac,  or  St.  Julien,  and  "a.  paysan  ordijiaire  oi  ih.Q  same  commune, 
than  there  is  between  Chateau  Lafite  and  Chateau  Leoville,  or  even  Pontct-Canet. 
Yet  these  bourgeois  wines  have  no  names  known  to  the  foreign  consumer,  except  the 
names  of  communes  and  the  brands  of  the  houses  that  deal  in  them.  They  are 
known  to  the  commerce  here  simply  as  bourgeois  supericurs,  boiis,  or  ordinaircs.  Be- 
fore leaving  the  INIedoc,  which  does  not  supply  the  tenth  part  of  all  the  clarets  of  the 
world,  though  it  supplies  the  best,  we  must  descend  still  lower  in  the  scale  of  grades, 
viz:  Artisans  super ieurs,  or  ordinaires,  paysans  siipiricurs,  or  ordinaires,  Bas-i\Icdoc 
etc.,  the  name  of  the  commune  generally  preceding  cither  of  these  grades. 

The  authentic  carte  zmiicole  gives  a  table  showing  that,  assuming  3,000  francs  per 
tonneau  as  the  price  for  the  1st  cm,  the  average  relative  value  of  the  5th  cm  is  about 
1,G00  francs;  while,  in  the  same  INIedoc  district,  the  unnamed,  unclassified  wines 
range  in  value  from  1,200  francs  down  to  less  than  400. 

These  excessive  differences  in  value  in  one  small  district,  after  excluding  the 
wines  whose  names  are  known  to  the  world,  should  be  enough  to  satisfy  any  reader 
that  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  him  to  exercise  the  discrimination  of  connoisseur 
before  he  passes  up  from  the  cheapest  vi^i  ordinaire  through  all  the  grades  below  the 
fifth  class  of  the  wines  whose  names  are  so  familiar.  When,  however,  he  considers, 
also,  that  besides  the  various  qualities  of  St.  Julien,  IMargaux,  Pauillac,  St.  Estephe, 
Macau,  Cantenac — select  subdivisions  of  Medoc  ordinary  wines,  varying  four  hundred 
per  cent,  in  values — he  finds,  also,  the  far  greater  portion  of  clarets,  coming  from 
Graves,  Entre-deux-Mers,  the  Cotes,  the  Palus,  the  St.  Emilionais,  etc.,  and  these  also 
increased  immensely  by  blendings  of  IMidi  red  wines,  Bordeaux  w-hite  \\ines,  Spanish, 
Italian  and  Portuguese  importations,  without  estimating  those  which  are  colored  with 
fuchsineand  form  a  part  of  the  mass  of  vinsde  cargaison,  he  can  see  still  greater  reason 
for  demanding  some  practical  commercial  classification  of  clarets  of  ordinary  con- 
sumption for  the  aid  of  the  consumer.  By  selecting  the  names  of  the  grand  wines 
under  which  to  classify  the  better  qualities  of  wines,  which  have  no  names  except  to 
the  trade,  which  is  practically  the  use  of  those  great  names  in  general  consumption,  a 
fiction  of  fancy  prices  is  maintained  which  checks  all  attempts  to  encourage  the  sub- 
stitution of  wine  for  other  drinks,  because  prices  are  too  high,  being  maintained  by 
the  retailer  in  accordance  with  the  brand  or  label  adopted.  For  ordinary  consump- 
tion, the  label  St.  Julien  should  be  considered  as  very  high  on  the  list,  and  quite  a 
choice  article  of  luxury  to  be  obtained.  If  St.  Julien  is  sold  for  one  dollar  a  bottle, 
there  should  be  other  grades  as  low  as  twcnt}-  cents,  and  from  that  ujjward.  There  is 
a  house  here  that  bottles  and  ships  wine  at  six  francs  (72  cents)  a  case  (one  dozen 
bottles).  The  United  States  gets  a  share  of  such  stuff.  In  France  they  commence 
with  m'n  ordinaire,  that  which  is  served  cheapest  ;  then  }-ou  may  ascend  in  price  by 
calling  for  a  bon  viji  ordinaire  (a  good  ordinary  wine),  a  vin  superieiir,  a  bouteille  d  trois 
francs,  but  when  you  call  for  St.  Julien,  or  IM^doc,  St.  Emilion,  etc.,  you  are  up 
among  the  extravagances,  and  the  waiter  has  to  go  to  the  cellar  to  get  your  bottle  for 


49 

you.  The  Frenchman,  jn  hotel  or  restaurant,  rarely  makes  any  special  order,  but 
takes  the  vifi  ordinaire  of  the  house  without  question,  and  remarks  onlv,  for  instance: 
"  The  St.  George  is  a  good  restaurant  ;  you  get  a  good  bottle  of  wine  there." 

THE    QUALITY    OF    MEDOC    WIXES, 

Which  is  the  standard  tyj)C  of  excellence  for  Bordeaux  red  wines,  docs  not  need  any 
explanation  by  me.  It  has  been  sufficiently  tasted  everywhere  to  be  well  known. 
Its  characteristic  features  arc  its  bouquet  and  velvety  body,  by  which  the  Alcdoc  fine 
whics  are.  distinguished  from  all  other  clarets.  Clarets,  however,  are  not  less  pala- 
table and  good  for  ordinar\-  consumption  because  the)'  lack  these  two  features,  and  it 
is  a  pity  that  consumers,  by  objecting  to  wines  because  they  are  a  little  harsh  to  tlie 
palate  and  without  bouquet,  really  induce  and  encourage  adulterations,  the  objects  of 
which  chieflv  arc  to  make  cheap  wines  marketable  in  fastidious  markets. 

The  effects  of  pure  Aledoc  clarets  u{)on  the  system,  when  drunk,  differ  much 
from  those  of  nearly  all  other  wines.  They  never  produce  an  inebriated  condition 
of  brain.  They  are  tonic,  refreshing,  nutritious,  and  do  not  disturb  calmness  and 
Coolness  of  mind.  If  the  production  of  these  wines  could  be  increased,  all  civilized 
nations  could  well  afford  to  admit  them  free  of  duty  for  the  sake  of  their  healthful 
qualities  ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  Medoc  district  is  small  and  already  overstocked  with 
vines.  The  quantity  of  the  jjroduct  will  hereafter  rather  tend  to  diminish  than  to  in- 
crease. Even  free  trade  wiUi  France  cannot  increase  the  quantity  of  fine  wine  for 
which  there  is  now  a  greater  demand  than  supply.  Of  this  I  will  write  more  partic- 
ularly in  connection  with  the  proposed  treaty  of  commerce,  which  is  being  urged  in 
the  interest  of  French  wine  mercji^ants,  who  wish  to  increase  their  operations  in  "  doc- 
toring"' .wines  for  all  the  world,  by  making  France  the  entrepot  for  all  the  cheap  wines 
of  .Spain,  Portugal,  Italy  and  Africa,  to  be  here  worked  over,  flavored,  colored,  etc., 
and  exported  evervwhere  as  French  wine.  France  has  no  surplus  of  wine,  or  brandy, 
which  requires  new  markets.  She  has  already  been -obliged  to  import  largely  to  sup- 
ply the  demand,  and  we  are  asked  to  help  her  to  increase  this  trade  in  imitations, 
which,  if  we  need  them,  we  can  as  well  operate  ourselves.  Much  better,  however, 
would  it  be  to  get  for  ourselves  the  pure  wines  before  they  pass  through  the  blending 
and  coloring  vats  of  h'rance. 

WHITE    WINES. 

The  while  wines  of  the  Gironae  are  sui generis.  They  are  subject  to  tne  same 
general  observations  in  respect  to  classification  as  those  made  concerning  clarets. 
There  is  this  marked  difference,  however  :  The  white  wines  of  France  are  not  con- 
sidered wholesome  to  drink  ;  Frenchmen  think  only  the  lighter  kinds,  and  that 
rarely,  except  in  districts  where  little  red  wine  is  produced  ;  the  while  wines  are  special- 
ties for  the  foreign  trade.  The  method  of  making  the  wine  from  rotten  grapes  has  been 
adopted  in  order  to  produce  a  liquor  suited  to  the  taste  of  norihern  countries,  particu- 
larly England.  The  object  has  been  the  same  as  in  Portugal,  to  produce  a  heavy, 
strong  wine  to  suit  a  foreign  demand. 

A  great  change,  however,  is  beginning  to  take  place  in  the  vintage  of  white 
wines,  owing  to  the  same  cause  that  is  affecting  the  production  of  port.  The  world 
is  learning  that  the  vin  de  liqueur  and  all  its  kindred  are  abominations,  and  the  de- 
mand for  pure,  well-fenaeuled  natural  wines  is  increasing. 


50 

The  "Grand  White  Wines''  all  come  from  the  .section  of  Vins  Blancs,  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Garonne,  next  to  the  Graves.  This  is,  as  I  have  before  said,  the 
continuation  of  the  same  slope  as  that  of  the  ]\I6doc,  the  Graves  intervening,  where 
principally  red  wine  is  made,  but  whence  come  some  light,  cheap  white  wines,  called 
pctiies  graves.  The  "grand"  or  "fine"'  white  wines,  classed  by  the  Syndicate  of 
Brokers  in  their  order  of  conventional  merits,  are  as  follows  : 

Grand  First  Cru. — Chatcau-Vquem,  Saulernes,  120  tonneaus. 

First  Cms — Chateau-La-Tour-Blanche,  Bommes,  40  :  Chateau-Pcyraguey,  Id., 
30  ;  Chateau- Vigneau,  Id.,  60  ;  Chateau-Suduirant,  Preignac,  100  ;  Chateau-Coutet, 
Barsac,  40  ;  Chateau-Climens,  Id.,30  ;  Chateau-Bayle  (Guiraud),Sauternes,  55  ;  Cha- 
teau-Rieussec,  or  Crepin,  Fargues,  40  ;  Chateau-Rabaut,  Bommes,  '25. 

Second  Cms — Chateau-Myrat,  Barsac,  30  ;  Chateau-Doisy,  Id.  (divided  into 
several,  since  classification  in  1855),  56  .  Chateau-Peyxotto,  Bommes,  18  ;  Chateau- 
d'Arche,  Sauternes,  20  ;  Chateau-Filhot,  Id.,  80  ;  Chateau-Broustel-Nerac,  Barsac, 
6  ;  Chateau-Caillou,  Id.,  20  ;  Chateau-Suan,  Id.,  2  ;  Chateau-Malle,  Preignac,  45  ; 
Chateau-Romer,  Id.,  30  ;  Chateau-Lamorhe,  Sauternes,  21. 

This  li.st,  however,  is  practically  less  important  than  the  list  of  grand.red  wines. 
It  has  been  modified  in  practice,  and  other  vineyards  are  classed  among  the  second 
crus,  with  what  authority,  however,  it  is  difBcult  to  determine.  The  small  quantity  of 
these  fine  wines  is  partly  due  to  the  small  area  of  the  five  communes  in  which  they  are 
produced,  and  partly  to  the  method  of  vintage,  grapes  being  j;)icked  when  baked,  or 
rotten  on  the  vines,  and  yielding  a  very  small  return  of  juice. 

The  value  of  Sauterne  wines  varies,  according  to  the  year,  excessively.  During 
ten  years  (prior  to  1868),  the  first  crus  sold  at  the  vineyards,  according  to  the  quality 
of  the  year,  at  prices  varying  from  800  francs  to  5,000  francs,  per  tonneau.  Chateau 
Yquem  sells  ordinarily  at  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent  more  ihan  the  other 
first  crus.  The  second  crus  sell  for  seventy  or  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  price  accorded 
to  the  first.  The  circumstances  governing  the  results  of  die  vintage  of  these  wines 
are  such  that  often  the  classification  is  entirely  disregarded,  and  a  second  cru  sells  for 
more  than  one  of  the  first.  For  instance,  Chateau- Yquem  sold  for  the  following 
prices  in  the  years  indicated  :  1860,  500  to  1000  francs  ;  1861,  6,000  francs.  1862^ 
2,500  francs  ;  1863,  1,700  francs  ;  1864,  4,500  francs  ;  1865,4,000  francs;  1866,' 
1,000  francs  ;   1867,  3,000  francs  ;  1868,  2,500  to  3,000  francs. 

It  is  evident,  from  such  a  statement,  that  the  use  of  the  labels  of  the  white  wines 
to  represent  in  retail  a  uniform  value  of  wine  per  bottle  or  case,  is  an  absurdity.  The 
label,  even  if  true  to  contents,  is  no  true  indicator  of  the  value  or  merit  of  the  wine, 
unless  the  year  of  the  vintage  be  marked,  also,  and  its  relative  value  known. 

The  opportunity  to  substitute  fair  white  wines,  which  have  no  great  reputation,  for 
those  which  are  known  to  the  world,  is  manifestly  great,  for  it  is  only  the  expert,  who 
devotes  his  time  to  these  wines,  who  can  detect  impositions  by  simply  tasting  the 
wine.  I  have  drunk  here  a  Chateau-Yquem  of  one  year  that  was  comparatively  a  dry 
wine,  while,  usually,  it  is  verj'  sweet. 

From  the  Vms  Blancs  Communes  there  are  also  produced  a  large  quantity  of 
bourgeois,  artisan  and  paysan  superior  and  ordinary  wines,  which  are  known  to  the 
Bordeaux  commerce  as  wines  of  this  or  that  commune,  as  Barsac,  Cerons,  Sauterne, 
Haut-Sauterne,  etc.;  but  to  the  foreign  commerce,  however,  such  wines  are  generally 
passed  simply  as  Sauterne,  just  as  the  ordinary  wines  of  the  entire  Medoc  pass  ofteuer 
as  St.  Julien  than  as  Medoc, 


51 

The  cheapest  white  wines  of  all  the  districts  of  the  Gironde  are  principally  used 
to  swell  the  quantity  of  the  clarets.  Being  very  cheap  and  little  in  demand,  there  is 
great  profit  in  blending  them  with  cheap  and  inferior  red  wines,  the  color  and  body  of 
the  whole  being  brought  up  to  standard  by  a  small  quantity  of  Roussillon,  or  red  wine 
from  the  JMidi,  Cahors,  Portugal,  Spain,  or  Italy.  For  the  export  trade,  much 
of  such  vin  de  cargaison,  as  it  is  regularly  called  "  on  'Change"  and  in  commercial 
reports,  is  also  colored  by  substances  not  corning  from  the  grape.  The  merchant 
who  demands  a  wine  cheaper  thnn  the  cheapest  genuine  red  wine  of  this  country,  and 
exacts  a  brilliant  color  to  tickle  the  fancy  of  unsuspecting  customers,  often  consents, 
and  even  asks,  to  have  the  wine,  according  to  order,  colored  with  fuchsine.  This  is 
true  of  a  large  order  recently  filled  out  here  for  the  West  Indies. 

THE    WIXE    PKOUl^CT. 

The  wine  product  of  the  Gironde  in  1873  is  given  by  one  good  authority  here  as 
sixty-one  million  (wine)  gallons  of  red  wine;  and  twenty-seven  million  gallons  of 
white  wine.     Total,  88,000,000  gallons. 

Heretofore  I  have  been,  more  or  less,  confused  by  the  references  to  English 
(Imperial)  gallons,  which  contain  more  than  the  wine  measure  of  the  United  States. 
I  shall  try  hereafter  to  use  only  the  terms  better  understood  in  our  country. 

This  quantity  for  1873  has  been  classified  by  a  statistical  authority  here,  as  follows: 

RED.  WHITE. 

Grand  wines  (classed) 1,33.5,600  276,000 

Superior  wines  (bourgeois,  etc.) 3,931,200  531,000 

Ordinary  and  grand  ordinary 55,669,200  26,235,000 

Total  in  gallons  (.American) 60,936,000  27,043,200 

From  this  statement,  which  docs  not  include  the  large  quantity  of  ordinar}'  wines 
from  other  sections  which  enter  into  the  commerce  of  Bordeaux,  the  reader  can  esti- 
mate the  relative  quantities  of  wine  imported  into  the  United  States,  which  can  prob- 
ably be  apportioned  to  these  several  classes,  the  first  and  smallest  including  all  the 
wines  known  to  him  as  Chateau  this,  or  Chateau  that.  1  am  constantly  arranging 
these  facts,  with  a  view  to  showing  the  reader  that,  no  matter  what  his  wishes  or  orders 
may  be,  the  imported  wines  which  he  drinks  must  necessarily  be  nearly  all  vin  ordi- 
naire, and  the  moral  of  it  is,  that  he  should  be  able  to  purchase  his  wines  at  cheap 
vin  ordinaire  prices.  The  St.  Julien,  Pauillac,  St.  Emilion,  St.  Estephe,  etc.,  belong 
to  the  small  class  of  superior  bourgeois  wines,  which  furnish  scarcely  more  abundant 
supplies  than  the  Grand  Chateaux.  The  people  of  the  United  States  drink  annually 
'rom  eight  to  ten  million  gallons  of  wine  purporting  to  be  from  France  ;  the  entire 
importation  of  all  foreign  wines  of  late  years  has  been  4'500,000  gallons.  The  entire 
product  of  the  Grand  Chateau  classed  wines,  together  with  the  Grand  Bourgeois  (St. 
Julien,  etc.),  is  less  than  the  nominal  consumption  of  such  wines  (by  label)  in  the 
United  States  alone.  Yet  the  greater  and  better  part  of  them  go  to  England,  Holland, 
Belgium,  Germany  and  Russia,  and  the  great  consumption  of  the  Grand  Bourgeois 
in  France  must  not  be  forgotten. 

I  shall  continue  to  repeat  the  moral  of  my  investigations  in  new  words:  Since 
you  do  drink,  and  can  only  drink,  ordinarily,  ordinary  wine,  give  the  wine  its  proper 
name  and  demand  it  at  a  reasonable  price,  and  don't  try  to  flatter  your  stomach  with  x 


52 

label,  which  costs  you  five  times  as  nuich  as  the  wine  costs  the  retailer  who  sells  It  to 
you.  Uon't  ever  expect  to  get  St.  J  alien,  or  INIedoc,  unless  you  can  find  it  under 
cover  of  the  name  of  one  of  less  than  a  dozen  respectable  Bordeaux  houses.  J'in 
ordinaire,  without  noble  name,  is  the  sole  resource  for  ordinar}-  wine  consumers.  Try 
to  get  it  chca[)  and  pure,  and  protect  the  health  of  the  country  by  insisting  on  wise 
laws  against  falsifications  and  adulterations.  Shun  the  effects  aimed  at  in  the  proposed 
new  treaty  with  France  as  you  would  a  threatened  jjlaguc.  Rather  prohibit  by  exces- 
sive duties  all  imports  of  wine,  and  leave  the  people  to  their  beer  and  what  native  wine 
they  can  produce,  and  which  can  be  kept  within  the  supervision  of  law,  than  accept 
the  French  offer  to  doctor  "cheap"  wines  for  us  to  supply  the  demand  for  which  their 
own  vineyards  are  now  unetjual. 

I  have  shown,  and  will  continue  to  show,  that  the  jmrc  wines  which  do  reach  us 
are  already  cheap  enough  to  satisfy  the  peo[)le,  if  retailers  would  only  sell  them  hon- 
estly; but  the  demand  of  trade  now  is  for  wines  cheaper  than  the  cheapest  that  can  be 
naturally  produced,  and  for  compounds,  flavored,  colored,  etc.,  to  imitate  high-priced 
wines.  The  h'rench  merchants  complain  because  such  wines  are  kept  out  l)y  the  duty 
of  forty  cents  a  gallon  (four  cents  per  contents  of  a  pint  bottle),  because  the  dutv  en- 
ables the  pure  native  wine  to  compete  with  ihcm  in  markets  where  price  and  label  is 
the  only  consideration,  and  where  the  consumer  generally  prefers  an  adulterated  to  a 
pure  wine,  because  he  has  never  learned  to  drink  the  latter.  If  such  is  to  be  the 
effect,  as  proposed,  of  the  treaty  demanded,  would  it  not  be  wise  to  first  have  an  in- 
vestigation of  the  ''cheap"  wines,  to  determine  whether  our  people  should  be  en- 
couraged to  drink  them?  C.  A.  W, 


Blended,  Fictitious,  Falsified  and  Adulterated  Wines. 

Paris,  November  8,  1878. — After  remaining  two  months  in  the  South  of  France, 
more  than  one-half  of  the  time  in  the  region  of  Bordeaux,  I  have  brought  mv  notes, 
books,  etc.,  to  Paris,  where  I  shall  try  to  finish  my  correspondence  concerning 
viticulture  and  viniculture.  I  shall,  however,  have  time  only  to  treat  upon  a  few  of 
the  many  important  questions  involved  in  these  subjects,  and  must  leave  the  greater 
portion  for  future  work. 

BLENDING    WINES. 

I  have  already,  in  various  ways,  called  attention  to  the  comparativelv  small  quan- 
tity of  fine  wines  (wines  distinguished  and  classed  according  to  the  names  of  the  vine- 
yards) that  are  produced  in  France,  and  to  the  relativelv  insignificant  proportion  of 
such  wines  that  are  or  can  be  exported  to  anv  foreign  countrv.  I  shall  summarize 
facts  bearing  upon  that  question  when  I  treat  of  the  statistics  of  commerce.  I  have, 
however,  sufficiently  shown  that  the  average  consumer  of  French  wine,  both  in  and 
out  of  France,  drinks  only  ordinary  wine.  I  except,  for  the  present,  all  reference  to 
champagnes,  which  must  be  spoken  of  as  distinct  products  hereafter. 

Concerning  vi'n  ordinaire,  remember  that  there  are  many  distinct  classes,  varying 
in  strength,  body,  color,  taste,  etc.  These  classes  may  be  divided,  first,  according  to 
districts  of  production,  into  wines  of  Bordeaux,  the  Midi,  Burgundy,  etc.  Each  of 
the    Departmcnt.s,    such     as    the    Gironde,    Charente,    Lot-et-Garonne,      Ilerault,, 


S3 

Pyrenees-Orientales,  Cotes-d'Or,  etc.,  produces  wines  more  or  less  differing  in  quality 
and  character.  All  these  classes  which  have  general  local  characteristics  must  again 
be  classified  within  the  districts  themselves.  Each  may  have,  as  do  the  wines  of  the 
Gironde  (Bordcai^x)  and  of  the  Cotes-d'Or  (Burgundy),  one  or  more  peculiar  charac- 
teristics common  to  the  whole  class,  but  there  are  the  minoi  subdivisions,  which  are 
caused  by  other  special  and  more  restrictive  qualities,  as  I  have  recently  explained 
while  describing  the  classifications  of  Bordeaux  wines  into  Medoc,  Graves,  Cotes,  St. 
Emilion,  etc.  Then,  also,  as  I  have  before  noticed,  there  are  the  variations  of  the 
vintages  from  year  to  year. 

Some  wines  are  strong  in  alcohol,  others  weak;  some  thin,  others  heavy  bodied, 
some  dull,  others  bright;  some  dark  colored,  others  light;  some  with  bouquet,  others 
with  none;  some  free  of  after-tastes,  others  affected  by  the  gout  de  terroir  (eardiy 
taste);  some  with  much,  and  others  with  very  little  or  no  astringency. 

There  are  also  the  two  great  divisions  of  red  and  white  wines. 

These  wines  are  ccJnsumed  principally  in  the  districts  where  they  are  produced; 
next  in  importance  as  consumers  are  the  populations  of  portions  of  France  which 
either  produce  no  wine,  or  less  than  is  required;  last  to  be  considered,  in  respect  to 
quantity,  are  the  foreign  countries. 

Wines  are  treated,  after  they  are  made,  according  to  the  demmds  of  consumers. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  regions  where  they  are  produced,  generally  drink  the  vin  de 
proprietaire,  which  is  the  expression  used  for  all  wines  which  are  not  mixed  or 
blended,  but  are  the  simple  products  of  single  vineyards,  free  from  all  manipulation 
excepting  that  which  is  necessary  to  preserve  them.  Large  cilies  like  Bordeaux  and 
Marseilles  in  wine  districts  are,  of  course,  exceptions  to  this  rule,  because  the  inhabi- 
tants are  generally  provided,  as  in  other  cities,  from  the  cellars  of  merchants.  The 
people  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  vineyards  know  the  varying  qualities  and  character- 
istics of  each  year's  vintage  and  of  the  wines  of  each  vineyard;  hence,  they  demand 
no  standard  quality  of  wine,  prepared  to  suit  their  taste,  but  drink  the  products  natural 
and  pure,  without  complaining  because  succeeding  supplies  vary  in  qualities  of  fine- 
ness, strength,  color,  etc. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  cities  and  of  districts  more  or  less  remote  from  ihe  wine 
producers,  demand  wines  more  or  less  uniform  in  quality  and  general  characteristics. 
The  rule  seems  to  be  that  the  less  people  know  about  the  true,  natural  qualities  of 
wines,  the  more  critical  and  exacting  they  assume  to  be.  This  disposition  of  the  con- 
sumer is  a  very  fair  measure  of  his  distance  from  the  place  of  production,  and  his 
ignorance  of  what  is  actually  produced. 

In  America  and  Russia,  for  instance,  French  wines  are  known  to  the  consumers 
only  by  a  few  distinguished  names;  the  consumers  insist  upon  a  few  standards  of 
taste  and  reputation.  In  Paris,  where  they  are  more  familiar  with  the  fact  that  line 
wines  are  rarities  and  ordinary  wines  are  variable,  the  consumers  insist,  when  they  are 
dispo.sed  to  be  extravagant,  only  upon  the  wines  of  certain  districts;  generally,  they  are 
satisfied  with  the  simple  distinction  implied  in  a  demand  for  a  hon  vin  or  vui 
mperieur,  that  is,  if  ihcy  attempt  to  judge  in  any  way  except  by  means  of  price. 

The  operation  of  blending  wines  has  for  its  chief  object  the  satisfaction  of  con- 
sumers, who  know  wines  principally  by  reputation  and  commercial  samples,  and  not 
by  intimate  knowledge  of  vintages.  'I'hc  demand  of  the  trade  in  distant  places  is  for 
wines yV/j/  like  the  hixt  sample  supplied.     'J'hc  consumer   in  distant  countries  considers 


54 

wine  as  a  luxury  and  not  as  an  ordinary  article  of  diet  ;  hence  he  demands  the  wines 
that  have  great  reputations.  It  is  impossible  for  the  French  producing  districts  to  fur- 
nish the  outside  markets  even  with  vin  ordinaire  often  like  the  last  sample  supplied,  or 
even  all  that  is  demanded  of  a  certain  district,  such  as  Medoc  win^,  and  still  more 
remote  from  possibility  to  furnish  the  quantities  of  celebrated  wines  demanded  in 
foreign  markets. 

The  problem  for  the  wine  merchants,  who  deal  with  the  producers  and  send  to 
the  trade  that  in  turn  deals  with  the  consumers,  is  not  quite  as  difficult  as  that  of 
"  making  a  silk  purse  out  of  a  sow's  ear,"  because  they  simply  make  a  hash  of  the 
sow's  ear,  and  season  and  label  it  to  suit — the  consumer  accepts  it  for  the  silk  purse,  and 
is  quite  satisfied,  if  only  the  same  kind  of  hash  and  label  comes  regularly  every  time 
he  orders  a  silk  purse.  If  there  happens  to  be  a  few  grains  of  real  silk  in  the  hash, 
the  consumer  calls  himself  a  connoisseur  in  silk  purses.  No  one  ever  orders  hash, 
or  even  plain  sow's  ear. 

This  trade  has  a  demand,  for  instance,  for  fifty  million  gallons  of  celebrated 
wines,  and  a  supply  of  only  two  millions;  a  demand  for  millions  of  gallons  of  St.  Julien 
and  a  supply  of  only  some  thousands.  The  trade  has  a  supply  of  millions  of  gallons  of 
ordinary  wines  of  a  thousand  different  kinds,  and  a  demand  for  millions  of  gallons  of 
only  a  dozen  kinds ;  a  supply  of,  for  instance,  fifty  million  gallons  of  red  wine  and 
twenty-five  millions  of  white,  and  a  demand  for  seventy  millions  of  red  and  for  only 
five  millions  of  white.  The  trade  hxs^  indeed,  also  another  problem,  when,  with  a 
supply  of  fifty  million  gallons,  an  attempt  is  made  to  find  a  market  for  seventy-five 
millions.  It  is  the  last  problem  that  the  French  merchants,  w^ho  talk  about  new 
treaties  to  increase  their  trade  in  wines — which  trade  is  now  overdrawn  upon — are 
trying  to  solve,  and  is,  in  real  truth,  the  problem  of  increasing  demand  without  in- 
creasing supply. 

The  melange  and  coupage  (the  blending  and  cutting)  are  the  operations  which  the 
wine  merchants  resort  to  in  order  to  reduce  a  thousand  varieties  to  a  dozen  standard 
mi.xtures,  representing  favorite  types.  I  shall,  however,  undertake  to  use  the  terms 
with  quite  distinct  meanings,  though  they  are  used  somewhat  indiscriminately  in  actual 
work. 

Blending  wines,  theoretically,  in  legitimate  trade,  is  the  operation  of : 

First — -Mixing  wines  of  one  class,  such  as  genuine  St.  Julien  wines,  which  vary 
more  or  less  from  year  to  year,  and  from  vineyard  to  vineyard,  so  that  the  average 
product  of  a  vintage,  or  several  vintages,  when  collected  in  large  quantities,  may  be 
supplied  to  consumers  of  average  quality  and  according  to  standard  samples.  This 
s  what  happens  even  in  a  single  vineyard  whenever  two  small  casks  are  emptied  into 
a  large  one. 

Second — Mixing  wines  of  different  places  with  a  view,  not  to  radically  change 
the  general  character  of  the  one  which  is  the  base,  but  to  improve  it  by  supplying 
some  defect  of  alcoholic  strength,  body,  softness,  or  intensity  of  color.  A  similar 
operation  is  even  practiced  in  the  great  vineyards  of  Chateau  Lafite,  Margaux,  Leo- 
ville,  etc.,  where  the  wine  from  the  Malbec  grape,  fermented  separately,  is  afterward 
mixed  with  the  wine  of  the  Cabernet  varieties,  to  improve  the  color  and  body.  This 
process  may  as  legitimately  be  practiced  in  adding  a  tenth  part  of  heavy,  dark,  strong 
Rousillon,  or  Spanish  wine,  to  a  light,  weak,  ordinary  Bordeaux  ;  or  in  mixing  black 
Malvoisie  with  Rose  of  Peru  or   Mission   wine  in  California  ;  in  this  case,  the  mer- 


55 

chant  only  does  with  his  wines  what  the  producer  should  have  done  by  growing  the 
different  varieties  of  vines  necessary  to  make  a  full  and  perfect  wine,  or  what  the  pro- 
ducer could  not  do,  because  the  peculiarities  of  soil  and  climate  in  his  district  cause 
his  wine  to  be  either  too  strong,  or  too  weak,  lacking  body,  or  heavy  bodied,  or  to 
have  some  other  quality  which  needs  to  be  toned  up  or  toned  down  by  another  wine 
which  supplements  its  weaknesses. 

How  to  properly  blend  wines  is  something  that  can  only  be  learned  experiment- 
ally with  the  materials  in  hand.  The  rules  must  vary  with  the  materials  and  the 
general  type  to  wiiich  the  base  of  the  blending  belongs.  Analyses  of  wine  would  be 
the  scientific  way  of  doing  the  work,  there  being -a  certain  proportion  of  many  ele- 
ments in  a  sample  of  the  standard  type  ;  but  this  is  impractical,  except  so  far  as  it  re- 
lates to  alcoholic  strength,  saccharine  weight,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  more  particular 
features,  easily  determined  by  instruments.  The  real  tests  in  other  respects  must 
chiefly  depend  upon  the  palate  of  the  operator  and  experiments.  The  mechanical 
part  is  simple  enough.  The  wines  are  drawn  off  into  casks  in  the  proportions  re- 
quired, as  shown  by  the  preliminary  test,  whipped  by  a  little  stirring  machine,  and  af- 
terward clarified  in  the  ordinary  way.  In  the  case  of  blending  wines  at  the  vineyard, 
immediately  after  the  fermentation  in  the  vat,  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  filling  the  casks 
in  the  required  proportions. 

The  coupage,  or  cutting  of  wines,  is,  however,  essentially  different.  The  former 
operation  of  blending  is  practiced  in  the  cellars  of  the  merchants  of  highest  repute 
in  Bordeaux,  and  everywhere  else  where  legitimate  business  is  done.  The  coupage, 
however,  is  of  more  or  less  bad  repute.  From  the  operation  may  result  an  ordinary 
wine  of  commerce,  the  mixture  having  been  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  render 
marketable  a  lot  of  cheap  wines  of  varied  character,  by  bringing  them  up  in  alco- 
holic strength  to  the  requirements  for  transportation,  and  by  modifying  color  and 
flavor  to  suit  the  commonest  taste  of  the  market  ;  or  it  may  be  the  mixture  of  a 
small  portion  of  heavy  red  wine  with  light,  weak  white  wine,  fortified  with  common 
alcohol,  enabling  the  merchant  to  sell  his  cheapest  white  wine,  which,  in  its  natural 
condition,  would  not  be  marketable,  at  the  price  of  cheap,  ordinarj'  red  wine  ;  or  it 
may  be  the  via  de  cargaison,  under  which  name  most  of  the  coupages  pass  in  the 
French  wholesale  market,  and  to  describe  it  would  be  impossible,  because  it  is  made 
to  order  to  suit  all  markets,  fortified,  fiavored,  colored  and  given  bouquet,  more  or 
less  adulterated  and  artificially  colored.  There  is  very  little  of  what  is'called  Chateau 
Larose  in  the  American  market  that  does  not  belong  to  this  last  class  of  wine. 
Chateau- Larose,  or  Gruau-Larose,  is  one  of  the  high-priced  wines  of  the  M6doc 
district.  The  name  has  become,  however,  generic  in  the  United  States  for  a  certain 
type  of  wine,  to  the  taste  of  w^hich  the  people  have  become  educated,  thinking  it  a 
fine  wine,  but  which  is  in  fact  one  of  the  cheap  vins  de  cargaison,  made  up  of  a  mix- 
ture of  cheap,  worthless  white  wines,  heavy  Spanish  red  wine,  flavoring  extracts  and 
bouquet,  and  what  else,  only  those  in  the  secret  can  tell.  It  figures  in  the  invoices 
from  Bordeaux,  bottled  and  cased,  at  prices  of  less  than  one  franc,  or  twenty  cents  a 
bottle,  as  I  shall  show  when  I  get  time  to  pref)are  an  analysis  of  the  tables  I  have 
prepared  from  the  invoices.  A  very  small  quantity  of  Chateau-Larose,  at  prices 
which  indicate  probable  genuineness,  goes  to  our  market.  I  mention  this  one  brand 
in  this  connection  because  it  is  a  favorite  in  the  United  States  and  serves  to  illustrate 
one  of  the  ways  in  which   the  trade  solves   the  problem  of  furnishing  fine  wines  to 


56 

people  who  are  foolish  enough  to  exj)cct  to  find  them  in  restaurants  and  hotels.  A 
simple  vin  ordinaire  would  never  do  for  a  Chateau  Larose,  hence  the  necessity  of 
high  art  in  producing  cargo  wines,  to  be  bottled  and  labeled  in  France,  or  the  United 
States,  as  the  finest  wines. 

There  is  very  little  vin  de  cargaison,  wliich  is  a  simple  mixture  of  pure  wines  > 
most  of  it  has  artificial  color,  strengtli,  flavor  and  bouquet.  The  price  for  which  it  is 
sold  is  cheaper  than  the  cheajjcst  ordinary  vin  de  proprieiaire.  It  must  certainly  have 
some  water  added  to  it,  although  this  fraud  is  always  denied  by  the  manufacturers.  It 
is  made  and  sold  to  order  by  houses  which  do  nothing  else.  The  prices  of  best 
qualities  are  regularly  quoted  in  the  "Prices  Current"  of  the  Bordeaux  Board  of 
Trade;  but  I  found  that  the  merchants,  who  send  such  stuff  to  the  United  States,  pur- 
chase it  much  cheaper  than  the  quoted  prices.  It  sometimes  figures  in  American  in- 
voices simply  as  vin  de  cargaison,  but  generally  under  some  such  designation  as  St. 
Emilion,  Montferrand,  Chateau  Larose.  Generally  it  is  sent  to  be  sold  on  commis- 
sion, in  which  case,  the  blame  of  importing  such  stuff  in*o  the  United  States  belongs 
to  the  French  trade;  often,  however,  the  American  merchant  writes,  either  describing 
this  class  of  wine  in  his  order,  or  fixing  the  price,  and  leaving  the  French  house  to 
select  the  wine.  As  an  instance  of  the  latter  way  of  doing  business,  a  Bordeaux  mer- 
chant, who  was  explaining  why  the  poorest  of  French  wines  went  to  America,  showed 
me,  among  letters  from  merchants,  from  New  York  to  Buenos  Ayres,  one  from  a  house 
in  Panama.  The  writer  told  the  Bordeaux  merchant  that  he  would  be  glad  to  have 
further  consignments,  but  the  kind  of  wine  which  the  trade  in  Panama  demanded  was 
such  as  would  cost  from  260  to  320  francs  a  tonneau  (240  gallons)  in  Bordeaux.  At 
that  time  the  cheapest  natural  unblended  red  wine  of  the  Gironde  was  worth,  at  the 
vineyards,  about  four  hundred  francs.  How  to  produce  a  brilliant  red  wine,  with  fine 
flavor  and  bouquet,  and  sufficient  strength  to  stand  transportation,  at  320  francs,  was 
therefore  the  problem  which  the  Panama  trade  sent  to  Bordeaux.  The  fault  is  not 
alwavs  on  this  side  of  the  ocean.  I  know  of  Chateau  Margaux  sent  to  San  Francisco 
duriu"-  the  last  year  for  less  than  two  francs  a  botde,  while  the  price  current  was  not 
less  than  nine  francs.     Of  course  the  dealer  in  America  knew  it  was  a  cheat. 

I  am  quite  satisfied,  after  a  careful  study  of  invoices,  that  the  consumer  who 
drinks  poor  French  vin  ordinaire — or,  as  it  is  usually  marked  in  our  hotels  and  restau- 
rants, St.  Julien — drinks  better  and  purer  wine  than  nine  of  ten  men  who  drink  wines 
that  they  pay  for  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars  a  bottle.  I  draw  this  conclusion  from  the 
fact  that  the  prices  in  the  invoices  indicate  that  most  of  the  wines,  marked  in  Bor- 
deaux as  Chateau  Margaux,  Latour,  Larose,  etc.,  are  only  frauds,  so  far  as  labels  are 
concerned;  so  far  as  contents  are  concerned,  they  must  be  adulterated  imitations,  be- 
cause it  would  be  impossible  to  jmss  off,  even  upon  a  novice,  a  cheap  vin  ordinaire 
for  a  grand  wine,  without  first  adulterating  it  to  produce  flavor  and  bouquet. 

I  am  not  making  statements  at  random.  I  have  the  proofs  of  all  that  I  assert, 
and  ever}'  merchant  in  the  United  States  who  deals  with  the  foreign  trade  knows  that 
what  I  say  is  true.  I  found  no  one  to  deny  this  in  Bordeaux,  except  so  far  as  his  par- 
ticular house  was  concerned.  You  will  probably,  my  dear  reader,  find  no  one  to 
deny  these  things  in  San  Francisco,  though  each  retailer  will  claim  to  sell  the  genuine; 
but  I  will  prove  to  you,  before  I  conclude  my  work,  that  you  may  go  into  hotels  and 
restaurants  and  groceries,  and  call  nearly  every  man,  who  undertakes  to  sell  you  a 
special  brand  of  French  wine,  an  impostor,  and,  if  prosecuted  for  scandal,  you  will  be 


57 

acquitted  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  one  hundred.  If  the  traders  think  I  am  using 
harsh  words,  let  them  take  the  fancy  labels  from  the  bottles  and  call  their  wines  vin 
ordinaire — claret,  red  wine,  or  vin  de  cargaison ;  they  will  then  have  no  quarrel  to 
make,  though  they  may  not  be  able  to  humbug  innocent  people  into  paying  fancy 
prices. 

There  is  a  little  genuine  high-priced  wine  that  goes  to  the  United  States,  but  it  is 
very  little.  I  have  not  only  the  general  statement  according  to  reputadon,  but  the 
proof  from  the  invoices  themselves.  After  all,  what  I  desire  most  to  impress  upon 
the  public  is  that  fancy  labels  are  generally  humbugs,  and  that  the  wine  they  drink 
costs  the  dealer  in  San  Francisco  or  New  York  not  more  than  from  four  to  six  cents  a 
bottle  higher  than  it  costs  the  dealer  in  Paris,  and  that  it  is  all  practically  vin  ordinaire, 
and  should  be  sold  at  vin  ordinaire  prices.  The  bouquet,  color,  and  flavor,  which  is 
added  to  ordinary  cargo  wines  to  make  them  seem,  to  educated  palates,  like  Chateau 
Larose,  costs,  perhaps,  one  cent  to  the  gallon,  and  yields  to  the  retailer  five,  or  even 
en  dollars.  It  is  the  retailer  who  makes  the  greatest  profit;  there  is  no  secret  between 
the  shipper,  commission  agent  and  broker;  the  retailer  buys  it  because  it  is  cheap, 
and  because  he  can  find  people  to  pay  high  prices  for  it.  I  don't  want  the  man,  who 
keeps  the  hotel  with  the  bay  windows,  to  think  that  I  am  complaining  because  he 
buys  his  wine  cheap,  but  because  he  sells  it  dear,  and  calls  it  pet  names.  I  am  not 
referring  to  some  dark-skinned,  low-browed  villains;  but  to  you,  and  you,  and  you, 
who  read  this  letter;  handsome,  jolly,  good  fellows,  whom  I  like  very  much,  person- 
ally, but  who  puzzle  me  a  great  deal  with  your  mixture  of  good-nature  and  deception. 
I  think  it  is  a  safe  maxim  that  everybody  will  deceive  if  nobody  objects;  when  we  begin 
to  object,  we  ought  to  be  safe  in  presuming  that  you  will  begin  to  be  honest.  So  we 
may  still  be  friends  and  not  quarrel.  I  should  take  pleasure  in  advertising  the  hotels 
and  restaurants  that  sell  good  vin  ordinaire,  instead  of  wretched  vin  de  cargaison;  it  is' 
a  question  to  them  of  from  two  to  five  cents  a  bottle,  extra  expense — nothing  more. 

The  blending,  or,  properly  speaking,  the  coupage  of  wines,  is  practiced  in  differ- 
ent places  in  different  ways,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  supplies  and  the  market 
to  be  supplied.  In  Paris,  the  people  drink  the  poorest  and  thinnest  of  all 
French  mixtures,  but  the  deleterious  colorations  are  less  used  here  on  account 
of  the  rigorous  execution  of  the  law  against  falsifications,  and  the  vigilance  of 
the  Bureau  of  Degustation  (tastiivi;),  which  is  under  control  of  the  Prefect  of 
Police.  The  chief  feature  of  the  Paris  wine  supply  is  the  almost  total  absence 
of  fine  wines.  Messrs.  Barton  &  Guestier,  at  Bordeaux,  told  me  that  they 
have  scarcely  any  Paris  orders  for  the  grand  wines.  All  the  poor  white  and 
red  wines  produced  in  the  northern  ranges  of  vineyards,  when  not  converted  into 
brandy  or  champagne,  or  consumed  in  the  producing  districts  find  a  market  in  the 
Bercy  depots,  which  constitute  the  wine-dealers'  quarter  of  this  city.  To  make  these 
cheap  wines  palatable  and  marketable,  heavy  red  wines  from  the  Midi — principally 
Rousillon — besides  Spanish  wines  from  the  region  near  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
southern  boundary  of  France,  are  imported.  I  ?Ay  imported,  because  practically  every 
large  city  in  France  is  a  foreign  country,  exacting  a  duty  or  tariff  tax  upon  all  articles 
of  consumption  that  come  in  from  the  country.  This  tax  is  called  octroi.  I  will,  in 
another  letter,  describe  its  features  and  show  how  it  prevents  the  French  from  having 
any  desires  to  trade  with  the  outside  world,  and  how  it  effectually  establishes  a  Chinese 
wall  against  trade  with  foreign  countries.     The  octroi  tax  in  Paris  upon  wines  and 


58 

spirits  is  so  great  that  it  tempts  the  wine-dealers  to  perpetrate  many  frauds.  The  ta.^ 
upon  spirits  is  so  great  that  the  trade  in  wines  of  the  Midi,  alcohohzed  to  a  strength 
of  fifteen  per  cent.,  is  encouraged.  Such  wines  are  sought  to  enable  the  large  dealers 
in  Bercy  to  raise  with  them  the  strength  of  the  w^eak  wines  of  the  north,  and  to  com- 
municate a  dull,  claret  color  to  the  mixture.  The  use  of  such  strong  alcoholized 
wines  enables  them  to  cover  up  the  addition  of  a  certain  portion  of  water.  The 
result  of  this  coupage,  as  shown  by  the  ordinary  red  wine  served  at  restaurants  and  to 
the  ordinary  consumers  among  the  people,  has  no  distinctive  character  whatever, 
except  poverty  in  all  essential  qualities  of  a  natural  and  generous  wine.  It  is  not  an 
imitation  of  anything.  The  aim  seems  to  be  only  to  produce  a  drink  which  shall 
have  alcoholic  strength  sufficient  only  to  preserve  it  two  or  three  weeks,  when  bottled 
for  the  retailers,  and  a  mere  apology  of  a  red  color  and  wine  flavor.  A  wine  must 
be  red  to  suit  the  French.  If  it  were  not  for  the  severe  execution  of  the  law  against 
deleterious  coloring,  this  product  would  all  be  made  brilliant  enough  with  fuchsine 
(an  analine  color,  which  is  the  especial  dread  of  the  French),  much  of  which  goes 
into  wines  that  are  exported.  There  is  no  high  art  in  the  Bercy  coupage;  their 
customers  do  not  demand  imitations  of  famous  wines,  hence,  though  the  wine  is  very 
poor,  it  is  not  as  unwholesome  as  many  products  that  are  exported  from  Marseilles 
Cette  and  Bordeaux.  This  is  probably,  however,  only  true  of  the  present  time,  and 
since  a  systematic  effort  has  been  made  to  suppress  adulterations.  I  shall  show,  by- 
and-by,  that  the  principal  cause  of  the  poor  supply  in  France  is  the  effort  of  the  trade 
to  export  more  than  the  excess  of  production  over  consumption.  France  does  not 
now  produce  sufficient  wine  to  supply  her  own  people's  demands ;  the  consequence 
is  that  both  the  home  and  foreign  supplies  are  adulterated.  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged, 
in  truth,  to  make  this  statement ;  but  my  readers  will  have  an  opportunity  to  see  that 
I  charge  less  against  French  wines  than  is  charged  by  the  highest  official  authorities 
in  France,  who  are  trying  in  vain  to  restrain  the  cupidity  of  the  large  dealers.  The 
French,  however,  as  will  be  shown,  are  only  concerned  about  the  health  of  their  own 
people  ;  there  is  little  restraint  put  upon  the  exporters,  though  they  say  that  they  seize 
a  wine  when  it  is  suspected.  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  of  any  seizures  of  wine  on 
the  quays,  that  was  about  to  be  exported^  though  I  have  made  inquiries  of  octroi  and 
Custom  House  officers  at  Bordeaux,  and  of  the  people  I  met  in  Marseilles  and  Cette. 
There  are  many  seizures  of  wines  coming  into  the  country,  or  being  fabricated  for 
home  consumption. 

The  coupage  is  practiced  in  Bordeaux  principally  for  the  foreign  trade.  There 
are  great  establishments  which  do  nothing  else  except  in  the  manufacture  of  vin  de 
cargaison.  There  are  many  houses  which  prepare  for  shipment  nothing  but  such  wines. 
It  is  from  their  cellars  that  Chateau  Larose  comes,  all  bottled  and  cased,  so  as  to  fig- 
ure in  American  invoices  at  from  ten  to  fifteen  francs  a  case,  including  the  profits  of 
the  houses  that  buy  of  these  manufacturers.  Bottling  expenses  are  about  five  francs 
a  case.  Such  houses  I  found  offering  in  Bordeaux  wines  at  six  and  eight  francs  a 
case  of  twelve  bottles.  Nearly  all  the  cost  is  the  cost  of  bottling  ;  the  wine  is  a  mere 
nothing.  The  methods  they  pursue  and  the  ingredients  they  use  are  the  secrets  of 
each  house,  which  cannot  be  known  with  certainty. 

I  found  advertised  in  Bordeaux  newspapers  and  vinicultural  organs,  and  even  in 
the  Directory  of  the  city,  scores  of  compounds  for  giving  flavors  and  bouquets.  I 
will  translate  one  of  them,  as  an  illustration  : 


5^ 

"  HOUSE    FOUNDED    IN    1805." 

"  Liqueur  Trasforest ;  called  Seve  de  Medoc ;  forly-five  years  of  success.  One 
flask  preserves,  perfumes,  improves  and  ages  a  barrel  of  wine  ;  price  two  francs  ; 
sent  by  mail  for  two  francs  and  forty-five  centimes  ;  price  per  Hire  [a  trifle  more  than 
a  quart],  thirty  francs  ;****** 

"  Essence  de  Cognac,  or  Rancio  Brun,  for  improving,  coloring,  perfuming  and 
aging  spirits  of  all  kinds  ;  price  per  flask  sufiicientfor  seventy-five ///r^j,  sent  by  mail, 
four  francs,  twenty-five  centimes;   per  lih-e,  thirty  francs. 

"  The  Seve  de  Cognac,  or  Rancio  Blanc  ;  possesses  the  same  properties  and  may 
be  applied  with  equal  success  to  kirsch,  hydromel,  gin,  etc.,  without  coloring 
them.  *  *  *  "*  *  **>' 

I  made  an  effort  to  obtain  satisfactory  explanations  of  the  processes  of  manufac- 
turing viit  de  cargaison  and  imitations,  while  I  was  in  Bordeaux.  I  was  everywhere 
told  by  the  people  in  legitimate  business,  that  the  majority  of  the  Bordeaux  houses 
were  interested  in  such  products.  Generally,  when  talking  to  officers  of  the  govern- 
ment, I  was  told  that  no  artificial  coloring  matters  were  used,  because  the  laws  of 
France  prohibit  the7n.  They  could  not  tell,  however,  how  often  the  laws  of  France 
were  evaded.  The  wine  merchants,  however,  except  when  asked  for  written  notes, 
etc.,  or  when  they  think  their  words  may  be  quoted,  do  not  pretend  any  such  purity 
in  trade. 

I  asked  one  of  the  members  of  a  most  respectable  and  important  house,  whether 
any  fuchsine,  or  other  coloring  matters  were  used  in  preparing  wines  for  exportation 
by  the  manufacturers  of  common  mixed  wines  and  imitations.  He  replied  promptly, 
"  I  know  they  use  such  things.  I  had  occasion  only  yesterday  to  investigate  the  mat- 
ter, and  I  found  they  were  using  them  in  the  cellars  near  the  IMidi  Railway  depot. " 
Again  he  remarked:  "There  was  a  man  in  here  yesterday  showing  what  could  be  done 
with  a  coloring  extract,  one  drop  of  which  would  give  a  ruby  color  to  a  glass  of  white 
wine." 

Another  day  the  same  gentleman  remarked:  "  I  was  passing  to-day  in  front  of 
one  of  the  houses  where  they  turn  out  the  cheap  wine  for  the  common  consumption 
of  Bordeaux.  They  were  emptying  some  kind  of  black  stuff  into  a  conduit  that  led 
to  one  of  the  large  vats  inside.  I  don't  know  what  it  was,  and  I  didn't  like  to  stand 
and  look  on,  because  they  knew  me  ;  but  it  was  some  kind  of  material  they  use  in 
mixing  up  their  wines." 

This  same  gentleman  said  very  positively,  when  I  first  spoke  to  him  of  the  pro- 
posed change  of  the  United  States  tariff  on  wines-  "If  it  is  adopted  it  will  injure  our 
business  in  fine  wines  ;  it  will  be  entirely  in  favor  of  vins  de  cargaison."  I  asked  him 
whether  he  would  authorize  me  to  say  that  his  house  was  not  in  favor  of  the  proposed 
change  ;  he  replied:  "  Certainly  ;  we  don't  want  the  tariff  changed,  and  we  hope  that 
your  native  wines  will  run  out  entirely  all  these  adulterated  wines.  There  is  no  con- 
flict between  our  fine  wines  and  the  native  wines  in  America.'' 

A  few  days  afterward,  he  explained  that  what  he  had  said  about  the  tariff  was 
upon  his  own  responsibility;  but  it  happened  that  a  member  of  the  firm  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Bordeaux  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  had  taken  the  initiative  in  the 
movement  for  the  new  tariff',  and  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  quote  the  firm  as  opposed 
to  the  treaty.  "The  truth  is,"  he  said,  "that  the  change  would  be  against  our  inter- 
est, but  it  is  in  the  interest  of  Bordeaux,  and  we  cannot  afford  to  appear  to  oppose  it. 


The  majority  of  the  people  are  interested  in  these  cheap  mixed  and  adulterated  wines." 
He  promised  me,  however,  to  have  some  notes  prepared  describing  the  kinds  of 
wines  used  in  coupages  and  the  means  generally  adopted  for  coloring  and  perfuming. 
He  said  he  did  not  know  much  about  the  business  himself,  but  he  could  get  the  notes 
for  me  to  use.  One  of  the  employes  of  his  firm,  he  said,  had  an  interest  in  one  of 
the  houses  engaged  in  manufacturing  vins  de  cargaison,  though  the  firm  was  not  sup- 
posed to  know  the  fact. 

I  reduced  the  points  of  my  inquiries  to  writing;  the  gendeman  had  them  trans- 
lated, and  said  they  would  be  attended  to;  but  I  had  little  faith  in  any  result  from  this, 
therefore  I  did  not  cease  to  pursue  my  inquiries  in  other  directions.  The  day  before 
leaving  Bordeaux,  the  notes  promised  me  were  furnished,  all  on  one  page  of  letter 
paper.  I  was  told  that  it  had  been  impossible  for  them  to  get  any  more  information 
on  the  subject.     Here  is  a  translation  in  full,  of  these  notes: 

"They  do  not  use  in  Bordeaux  highly  colored  wines,  either  of  French  or  foreign 
origin,  to  mix  with  and  give  color  to  the  wines  of  Bordeaux. 

"The  use  of  such  wines  is  reserved  for  wines  called  vins  de  cargaison,  which  are 
nothing  else  than  mixtures  of  white  and  led  wines. 

"The  white  wines  employed  are  generally  wines  of  the  Entre-deux-Mers. 

"The  red  wines  employed  are  wines  of  Narbonne,  Lot-et-Garonne,  Lot,  Rous- 
sillon.  When  the  price  permits,  the  wines  of  the  Gironde  are  preferred.  When  the 
wines  of  France  are  short  they  have  recourse  to  the  foreign  wines,  such  as  those  of 
Portugal  and  other  countries. 

"No  artificial  means  for  giving  bouquet  are  used  at  Bordeaux,  The  bouquet  is 
natural  in  the  wine,  and  e  ch  wine  each  year  has  its  particular  bouquet. 

"Neither  do  they  use  at  Bordeaux  any  artificial  means  for  coloration. 

"For  exportation,  wines  are  fortified  with  rectified  alcohol ;  generally,  the  degree 
of  alcohol  is  raised  from  eleven  to  twelve  per  cent." 

I  said  to  the  clerk,  who  brought  me  the  notes,  that  they  contained  nothing  that  I 
did  not  already  know,  and  that  it  was  absurd  to  say  no  artificial  bouquets  and  colors 
were  used  at  Bordeaux  ;  I  reminded  him  that  he  had  heard  the  gentleman  who  sent 
me  the  notes  say  that  he  knew  such  adulterations  were  practiced.  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I 
know  he  did  ;  but  they  won't  admit  it."  He  meant  to  say  that  they  wouldn't  admit  it 
in  any  way  that  might  possibly  be  traced  back  to  them  ;  such  is  the  conservative  cow- 
ardice of  commerce. 

I  will  relate  another  experience  I  had  with  another  leading  wine  merchant.  I 
had  a  long  interview  with  him  in  the  presence  of  the  United  States  Vice-Consul.  He 
said  that,  whenever  he  had  any  orders  for  vin  de  cargaison,  he  always  went  to  one  of 
the  houses  that  produce  such  stuff.  The  price  of  it  was  much  less  than  any  genuine 
wines  could  be  bought  at.  He  had  frequently  asked  the  manufacturers  to  tell  him 
how  they  made  it,  but  they  would  not  tell  him.  He  said  he  h.d  cliarged  them  with 
using  water  in  the  mixtures,  but  they  always  denied  it  ;  "but,"  said  he,  "  I  know  they 
must  use  water,  or  they  couldn't  turn  the  stuff"  out  so  cheap.  They  must  use  water, 
and  keep  up  the  strength  with  common  alcohol,  which  the  law  allows  them  to  add, 
when  the  wine  is  to  be  exported,  without  paying  duty  or  tax  ad  libi/iwi."  This  gen- 
tleman also  agreed  that  the  proposed  change  in  the  tariff  was  being  advocated  in  the 
interest  of  such  wines,  and  would  injure  the  trade  in  fine  wines.  He  authorized  me 
at  once  to  quote  him  as  not  being  in  favor  of  the  change.  Two  days  later  I  received 
from  him  a  note  as  follows  : 


6i 

"Bordeaux,  October  22,  1878. 

' '  Dear  Sir  :  After  due  reflection,  and,  also,  after  a  careful  perusal  of  various 
letters  we  have  received  lately,  and  again  yesterday,  from  the  United  States,  we  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that,  if  the  new  tariff,  reducing  the  duty  on  claret  wine,  is 
adopted,  it  will  be  so  much  in  favor  of  the  numerous  friends  who  receive  their  wines 
direct  from  us,  that  we  must  ourselves  be  in  favor  of  the  reduction,  and,  therefore, 
cannot  authorize  you  to  put  our  name  forward  as  being  against  the  reduction,  or  even 
as  being  indifferent  to  it,''  etc. 

This  letter  was  no  surprise,  for  I  learned  that  the  gentleman  was  sending  out,  to 
order,  quantities  of  vin  de  cargaison,  such  as  form  the  bulk  of  the  shipments  to  the 
United  States  already.  The  trade  in  fine  wines  is  very  small  for  most  houses,  and  is 
almost  entirely  controlled  by  half  a  dozen  firms  such  as  Barton  &Guestier,  Cruze  Fils  et 
Freres,  Nathaniel  Johnston,  Alfred  de  Luze  and  Lalande  &  Co.  The  latter  also  does 
an  immense  business  in  cheap  wines,  according  to  the  demands  of  trade. 

I  was  one  day  in  one  of  the  offices  of  the  Octroi  of  Bordeaux.  One  of  the  offi- 
cers became  very  communicative.  As  it  was  in  the  presence  of  others,  I  presume 
his  remarks  were  not  intended  as  secrets.  I  told  him  that  I  had  discovered  that  most 
of  the  wine  exported  from  Bordeaux  was  very  poor  stufT.  He  made  a  violent  affirm- 
ative shrug  of  his  shoulders,  and  said  :  "Certainly;  they  send  the  worst  wines  to 
America  I  know  one  party  who  has  a  contract  to  ship  a  very  large  quantity.  I 
don't  know  whether  it  is  to  the  United  States  or  not,  but  it  is  to  some  place  in  Amer- 
ica. He  has  orders  from  the  consignee  to  mix  it,  and  color  it  with  fuchsine.''  I 
asked:  "Do  they  use  fuchsine  in  wines  of  exportation.''"  He  replied:  "The  law 
prohibits  it,  but  they  do  it  secretly,  and,  as  in  this  case,  they  do  it  because  the  parties 
'to  whom  it  is  shipped  wish  it  to  be  so  colored." 

The  officers  of  the  government  who  examine  wines  intended  for  home  consump- 
tion do  not  trouble  themselves  with  the  wines  intended  for  exportation,  unless  their 
attention  is  especially  called  to  suspected  goods,  which  is  seldom,  or  never,  done. 

The  alcohols  which  are  used  to  fortify  wines  for  exportation,  are  chiefly  German 
potato  spirits.  They  come  into  the  bonded  warehouses  and  can  be  added  to  wines 
for  export  without  paying  duty  ;  hence  the  operation  is  very  cheap.  The  French 
medical  authorities,  as  I  explained  some  time  ago,  have  made  a  vigorous  protest 
against  the  use  of  such  spirits  in  wines.  I  was  permitted,  at  the  Custom  House  in 
Bordeaux,  to  copy  and  translate  from  a  volume  of  decisions  and  regulations,  the  fol- 
lowing articles  concerning  these  foreign  spirits. 

"  §402.  The  trade  may,  in  the  bonded  warehouse,  mix  foreign  alcohols,  'cut' 
ihcm,  sweeten  them,  color  them,  and  place  them  in  receptacles,  according  to  its 
convenience,  but  upon  condition  of  not  applying  to  the  receptacles  any  etiquettes,  or 
marks  whatever,  of  French  origin.     (Circular  of  January  Gth,  1805), 

"The  service  may  permit  the  addition  of  foreign  alcohols  to  French  wines,  with 
a  view  to  preparing  them  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  consumer  and  to  putting  them  in 
condition  to  stand  transportation."     (Decision  of  April  21st,  185-1). 

"  In  this  case  the  French  wines  must  be  brought  into  the  bonded  warehouse  only 
at  the  moment  when  the  mixtures  are  to  be  elTected,  and  under  no  pretext  whatever 
can  wines  so  mixed  remain  in  France  ;  they  must  be  exported."  (Decision  of  May 
24th,  1854). 

Wines  intended  for  consumption  in  France  may  be  fortified  with  spirits  distilled 
from  wine  or  from  beet  roots — the  latter  being  generally  used — under   usual  rates  of 


62 

taxation,  provided  the  strength  of  the  wine  is  not  raised  above  fifteen  per  cent,  of  alco- 
hol. Above  that  degree  double  taxes  are  imposed,  so  as  to  prevent  the  circulation  of 
highly  alcoholized  wines. 

All  spirits  and  wines  are  free  of  taxation,  when  exported,  hence  the  degree  of 
fortification  of  exported  wines  is  only  limited  by  the  demands  of  trade  and  the  tariff 
of  the  country  to  which  they  are  to  be  sent.  I  have  already  explained  that  the  United 
States  admits  all  still  wines  under  twenty-four  per  cent,  of  alcohol  at  the  same  rate  of 
duty,  while  England  charges  more  than  double  for  all  wines  containing  above  26 
per  cent,  of  /roo/"  spirits  (about  13  per  cent,  alcohol)  and  less  than  42  per  cent  (proof 
spirits).  Hence,  even  if  German  alcohol  were  not  used  in  fortifying  wnnes  for  America, 
American  alcohol  could  be  used,  and  in  this  way  shipped  back  to  the  United  States, 
evading  by  the  operation  both  Internal  Revenue  and  Customs  dues.  Large  quantities 
of  so-called  ports  and  sherries  are  shipped  from  France  and  Germany  to  the  United 
States,  one-fifth  of  the  volume  of  which  is  an  addition  of  common  proof  spirits,  of 
German  or  American  origin,  which,  by  reason  of  the  mixture,  only  pays  forty  cents 
per  gallon  duty — the  same  as  wine — while  the  same  article  unmixed,  has  to  pay  two 
dollars  per  gallon.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  German  alcohols  are  considered 
by  the  medical  authorities  to  be  more  deleterious  than  our  American  grain  spirits; 
hence  it  would  be  well  if  our  government  should  increase  the  tax  on  all  wines,  alco- 
holized above  the  natural  liihit  of  13  or  15  per  cent.,  and  so  protect  the  health  of  the 
people  by  cutting  off  this  kind  of  legal  smuggling  of  spirits.  If  the  wines  must  be 
fortified  above  the  degree  necessary  to  bear  transportation,  it  may  as  well  be  done  in 
four  country  with  American  alcohols. 

The  Hamburg,  Bordeaux,  Cette  and  Marseilles  trade  would  oppose  such  a  re- 
form, because  the  Germans  and  French  are  building  up  a  great  commerce  in  imitation 
ports,  sherries  and  all  kinds  of  vhts  de  liqueurs^  which  our  laxity  of  tariff  encourages. 
The  British  government  has  set  the  example,  which  we  should  follow  in  this  respect. 
The  trade  in  genuine  ports  and  sherries  would  be  benefited  by  a  law  which  would  cut 
off  part  of  the  profits  of  imitations.  I  find  that  no  one,  dealing  only  in  genuine  w-ines 
or  cognacs,  cares  to  have  any  change  in  the  tariff,  except  such  as  will  help  us  to  keep 
out  of  our  markets  the  adulterated  articles. 

Before  continuing  further  on  these  subjects,  I  will  refer  back  to  what  I  said  in 
one  of  my  letters  from  the  cognac  district  about  a  substance  used  in  making  imitations 
of  cognacs.  My  informant  called  it  rum,  but  described  it  as  a  thick,  dark  liquid. 
In  Bordeaux,  whence  the  supplies  come,  I  found  out  only  that  the  substance  is  a  kind 
of  caramel,  prepared  with  molasses,  flavored  with  essence  of  rum  to  suit.  Old  rum 
is  also  largely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  false  brandies.  Extracts  with  the  rum  flavor 
3re  prepared,  but  I  am  not  able  to  describe  them. 

These  substances  are  probably  harmless,  when  used  without  admixtures  of  fuch- 
sine  and  other  colors;  but  they  have  no  merits,  being  only  used  to  deceive  consum- 
ers. They  cannot  supply  the  places  of  the  natural  bouquets  and  flavors,  which  are 
essential  and  valuable  parts  of  wines  and  brandies.  The  worst  thing  is  that  they  are 
used  to  falsify  villainous  alcohols.  They  cost  almost  nothing,  except  to  the  con- 
sumer, who  pays  the  prices  of  genuine  wines  and  brandies  for  cheap  adulterations. 

To  illustrate  the  notoriety  of  this  business  of  manufacturing  imitation  cognacs,  1 
will  quote  a  few  items  from  among  about  one  hundred  similar  ones  m  the  advertise- 
ment of  the  laboratory  of  Mes.^rs.  F.  Lebeuf  &  Co.,  of  Argenteuil,  included  in  one  of 
the  volumes  of  the  EncyclopedU-Ror^i.- 


63 

"  Arome  de  innaigre,  to  give  to  vinegars  of  alcohol  and  other  substances  the  taste 
and  bouquet  ol  wine  vinegar. 

"Bouquet  conservateur  dts  vins  du  Midi,  to  preserve,  perfume  and  age  wines  des- 
tined for  voyages  and  transportation. 

^'Bouquet  de  Pomard  el  de  Bourgogne,  gives  to  wine  the  taste  and  perfume  of  old 
Burgundy. 

^'-Bouquet  de  raisin  ou  de  cognac^  gives  to  beet-root  or  grain  spirits  the  taste  and 
the  bouquet  of  wine  spirits  and  of  cognac. 

"  Cognac-shoe,  perfected  chemical  preparation  for  giving  the  bouquet  and  flavoi 
of  cognacs  to  the  dilutions  of  common  alcohol  and  to  mixtures  all  kinds. 

"  Couleur  verie  en  poudre,  for  coloring  absinthes  and  liquors.  With  this  powder 
one  obtains,  within  a  few  hours,  a  beautiful  green  color  which  will  stand  light. 

"Essence  de  cognac  (guaranteed)  communicates  to  beet-root  and  grain  spirits  the ' 
taste  of  cognac. 

"  Essence  of  madeira,  muscat,  malaga,  alicante,  port,  lachryma-christi,  grenache, 
sherry,  tokay,  marsala,  etc. — to  manufacture  them  with  ordinary  wine." 

And  so  on,  through  the  whole  list  of  rums,  brandies,  kirsch,  anisette,  Bordeaux 
wines,  etc.,  etc. 

While  I  was  in  Cette  I  tried  to  learn  something  of  the  methods  practiced  there 
in  making  up  wines  for  exportation.  Cette  has  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  worst 
drug  shop  for  wines  in  the  world;  but  I  think  it  cannot  surpass  Hamburg,  and  is  not 
now  far  ahead  of  either  Marseilles  or  Bordeaux.  Every  brand  of  known  wine  is 
turned  out  to  order  there.  A  correspondent  of  the  London  Ti7nes  some  time  ago, 
quoting  from  the  French  JMoniieur  Industrid,  stated  : 

"  We  learn  that  among  the  French  white  wines  imported  into  England  are  in- 
cluded imitations  of  sherry  and  madeira,  proceeding  from  Cette  and  Marseille,  where 
'  the  real  nutty  flavor'  is  skillfully  imparted  by  chemical  compounds."  Another  wri- 
ter describing  Cette,  says  :  "All  the  wines  of  the  world,  indeed,  are  made  in  Cette. 
You  have  only  to  give  an  order  for  Johannisberg,  or  Tokay — nay,  for  all  I  know,  for 
the  Falernian  of  the  Romans  or  the  nectar  of  the  gods — and  the  Cette  manufacturers 
will  promptly  supply  you.  They  are  great  chemists,  those  gentlemen,  and  have 
brought  the  noble  art  of  adulteration  to  a  perfection  which  would  make  our  own  mere 
logwood  and  sloe-juice  practitioners  pale  and  wan  with  envy.  But  the  trade  of  the 
place  is  not  so  much  adulterating  as  concocting  wine.  *  *  They  will  doctor  you 
up  bad  Bordeaux  with  violet  powders  and  rough  cider,  color  it  with  cochineal  and 
turnsole,  and  outswear  creation  that  it  is  precious  Chateaux  Margaux,  vintage  of  '25." 

After  an  examination  of  invoices  in  the  Consular  Agent's  office  at  Cette  and  a 
comparison  of  records  of  exports  during  past  years,  I  found  that  the  trade  with  the 
United  States  direct  from  Cette  is  rapidly  decreasing  ;  hence,  their  methods  are  ol 
less  importance  to  us.  The  wines  used  are  those  of  the  Midi,  the  North  of  Spain, 
Italy  and  Africa.  It  is  far  from  Cette  and  its  vicinity,  along  the  Mediterranean  that 
"  Burgundy  port"  comes.  "  Burgundy  port  "  is  a  name  applied  to  Roussillon  red 
wine,  sweetened  with  boiled  grape  juice,  and  heavilv  dosed  with  alcohol.  It  is  this 
article  and  "sherry"  that  form  the  principal  shipment?  to  the  United  States  ;  but  the 
quantities  are  not  very  great.  The  same  articles,  together  with  the  rough,  heavy 
wines  of  the  Midi,  comprise  the  bulk  of  the  wines  shipped  from  Marseilles. 


64 

I  was  assured  in  Cette,  by  i\Tr.  Nahmcns,  the  U.  S.  Consular  Agent,  that 
no  artificial  colors  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of  wine  there.  I  was  so  kindly 
treated  by  this  gentleman  and  furnislicd  with  every  fi^cility  practicabh  for  getting  in- 
formation, that  I  dislike  to  doubt  his  word;  but  it  is  only  necessary  to  remark  that  he 
is  the  largest  proprietor  and  tax-payer  in  the  city  ;  that  the  city  is  dependent  upon  the 
"doctoring"  of  wines  for  support ;  thit  he  was  for  a  long  time  in  the  wine  business, 
and  now  owns  a  warehouse,  which  is  occupied  by  the  Customs  officers  for  guarding 
wines  ;  and  that  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  he  is  going  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  the 
trade,  if  there  are  any.  His  office  is  subordinate  to  the  Consulate  of  INIarseilles. 
While  visiting  the  Customs  warehouse,  which  he  owns,  we  noticed  that  forty-six  bar- 
rels had  been  seized  by  the  officers  of  the  law.  The  officer  in  charge  said  that  it  was 
a  lot  of  wine  from  Spain  in  which  fuchsine  had  been  found.  This  was  a  proof,  at 
least,  that  the  trade  was  aitetnpting  to  use  fuchsined  wines,  and  was  rather  a  damper 
to  Mr.  Nahmens,  who  had  just  been  telling  me  that  no  such  things  were  used  in 
Cette. 

Of  course,  there  can  be  no  proofs  of  the  use  of  fuchsine  here,  except  the  seiz- 
ures.    How  much  is  exported,  after  evading  the  law,  no  one  can  tell. 

Fuchsine  is  an  analine  color,  used  to  impart  a  brilliant  ruby  to  wines.  It  is, 
however,  only  one  of  the  many  substances  used  ;  but  it  is  the  one  most  condemned, 
and  oftenest  the  cause  of  seizure,  because  it  is  considered  injurious  to  health. 

I  have  found  at  least  a  dozen  valuable  works,  published  in  France,  treating  upon 
falsifications  of  wines,  and  especially  upon  the  false  colorations,  and  the  means  of  de- 
tecting them.  I  shall  refer  to  them,  because  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  supposed  that  I  am 
carelessly  charging  adulterations  against  French  wine  manipulators. 

The  most  interesting  and  useful  work  is  that  of  Dr.  E.  J.  Armand  Gautier,  Pro- 
fesseiir  agrege  to  the  Faculty  of  Medicine  of  Paris,  and  director  of  the  laboratory  of 
biological  chemistry  pertaining  to  the  Faculty,  etc.;  the  book  is  entitled  La  sophistica- 
tion des  vins;  coloration  artificielle  et  mouillage;  moyens  pratiques  de  reconnaitre  la  fraude; 
published,  Paris,  Bailliere  et  Fils,  No.  19  Rue  Hautefeuille ;  1877.  I  will  translate 
from  the  introduction,  as  follows  : 

"For  several  years  the  fraudulent  practices  of  coloration  and  watering  of  wines 
have  spread  more  and  more,  and  tend  to  pass  from  the  shop  of  the  retail  merchant  to 
the  cellars  of  the  great  dealers,  and  even  wine-growers.  The  artificial  coloration  of 
wines,  which  had  been  attempted  only  by  a  small  number  of  operators  of  low  grade, 
has  become  so  common  that  it  is  by  tons  that  must  be  counted  the  quantities  of  coche- 
nille,  Phytolacca,  mauve  noire  (black  mallow),  elderberries,  fuchsine,  that  are  sold 
annually  in  a  single  city,  such  as  Montpellier,  Beziers,  Narbonne,  or  Paris.  The 
elevated  prices  of  the  crop  of  1873,  the  lack  of  color  and  of  body  of  the  wines  of  1875, 
the  excessive  octroi  taxes  of  certain  cities,  and  particularly  Paris,  have  advanced  these 
dangerous  practices  to  the  highest  degree.  The  notoriety  and  the  increasing  skill  of 
merchants  dealing  in  matters  destined  to  color  wines  ;  their  advertisements,  scarcely 
dissimulated,  through  the  medium  of  journals  and  pamphlets,  or  through  the  efforts 
of  their  agents;  the  enormous  gains  realized  by  the  sale  of  coloring  materials  of  small 
value,  employed  to  adulterate  millions  of  hectolitres;  in  fine,  the  impunity  of  the  re- 
tailers of  these  dangerous  substances,  the  judicial  convictions  striking  oftener  the  wine- 
producer  or  the  wine  merchant,  excited  to  fraud  by  the  dealer  in  coloring  matters. 


65 

than  the  seller  or  manufacturer  of  these  suspected  things — all  these  causes  tend  to  spread 
more  and  more  the  practice,  so  dangerous  to  public  health  and  wealth,  of  artificia 
coloration  of  wines  " 

The  first  paragraph  in  chapter  1st  of  the  same  work  I  translate  as  follows  : 

"  Wines  are  colored  generally  only  that  water  may  be  added  with  impunity.  This 
productive  fraud  is  practiced  upon  millions  of  hcc'.olitres,  is  much  to  be  regretted 
and  is  not  without  danger  to  health  and  the  public  revenue.  In  forcing  the  color 
ariificially,  less  is  thought,  indeed,  of  giving  the  wine  a  deeper  or  brighter  tint,  to 
please  the  eye  of  the  consumer,  than  of  finding  a  disguise  which  may  permit,  by 
increasing  notably  the  coloring  power  of  the  precious  liquid,  a  proportionate  dilution 
with  water,  provided  the  strength  is  raised  a  little  by  the  subsequent  addition  of 
cheap  alcohol." 

Dr.  Gautier  gives  descriptions  and  tables  indicating  how  these  adulterations  may 
be  detected. 

Dr.  Lunier,  in  his  work  on  "  th3  producdon  and  consumption  of  alcoholic 
drinks  in  France,"  which  I  have  noticed  several  times,  s\ys  there  is  nothing  illicit  in 
the  use  of  dark  red  wines  to  raise  the  color  of  lighter  ones;  but  he  adds:  "unfortu- 
nately there  are  used  also,  to  obtain  the  same  results,  different  coloring  matters,  of 
which  the  principal  ones  are:  elderberries  (of  two  kinds — hiebhs  and  sureau),  myrtle- 
berries,  Phytolacca,  Brazil  and  logwood  [boss  dc  campcche),  juice  of  beet  roots,  holly- 
hock, ammoniacal  cochenille,  fuchsine,  caramel,  etc.  The  chemists  have  indicated 
several  methods  for  detecting  each  of  these  falsifications,  all  of  which  are  culpable 
and  some  of  which  are  dangerous  to  public  health."  Dr.  Lunier  is  the  Inspector- 
General  of  the  service  for  the  insane  and  of  the  sanitar)-  service  of  the  prisons  of 
France. 

I  find,  in  nearly  all  ihe  works  on  wine-making,  chapters  relating  to  falsifications 
and  methods  of  detecting  them.     I  will  quote  only  from  a  few  of  them. 

Dr.  J.  Ferrier  (Guide  de  Consommateur  de  bans  vins,  etc.,  Bordeaux,  1857),  says ; 
"According  to  the  Marquise  de  la  Grange.  Senator,  falsification  adds  annually  to  the 
quantity  of  wine  consumed  in  Paris,  300,000  hectolitres  (nearly  nine  million  gallons), 
*  *  *  M.  Payen,  in  his  last  work  on  alimentary  substances,  says  that  an  entire 
volume  would  be  insufficient  to  describe  all  the  falsifications  of  which  wines  have 
been  the  subject.  *  *  *  There  is  still  another  new  kind  of  fraud,  which  is  daily 
practiced  and  to  which  consumers  permit  themselves  to  be  subjected  the  most  readily, 
because  they  only  judge  wines  from  appearances;  it  is  the  usurpation  of  the  names  0/ 
imieyards  (cms),  0/ producers^  and  0/  the  places  0/  production.  A  wine  merchant  of 
bad  character  applies  audaciously  to  his  barrels  the  mark  of  a  well  known  vineyard  of 
fine  reputation,  although  the  wine  contained  in  them  does  not  come  from  there,  and 
the  same  means  is  emj)loyed  for  the  etiquettes  (labels),  and  the  corks  of  wines  in 
bottle.  Another  buys  one  barrel  of  wine  of  a  renowned  vineyard,  in  order  to  prove 
to  his  clients  that  he  can  furnish  to  them  such  wine ;  but,  in  his  hands,  this  tonneau 
is  not  like  that  of  the  Danaides.  A  third  {uirchases,  or  leases,  in  a  town  or  village  of 
the  M^doc  country,  which  has  the  most  renown  for  its  wines,  a  cellar  or  a  small  patch 
of  vines  ;  then  he  calls  himself  on  his  cards  and  in  his  invoices,  a  proprietaire  en 
Medoc,  and  sends  out  wines,  often  very  common,  which  he  has  naturalized  upon  his 
pretended  property."  Dr.  Ferrier,  who  wrote  the  foregoing,  was  a  physician  at  Pau- 
illac,  in  the  Medoc,  and  formerly  surgeon  to  the  Lazaret,  in  Bordeaux,  and  member 


66 

of  the  Society  of  Physical  and  Chemical  Sciences  and  Arts  of  France.  He  has  only 
remarked  what,  from  observation,  I  have  found  true  to-day,  especially  concerning  the 
tricks  of  merchants  with  labels  and  brands. 

Mr.  Raimond  Boireau  (  Traitcinent  pratique  des  vins,  Paris,  E.  Lacroix,  54  Rue  des 
Saints-Peres,  1876),  gives  some  excellent  chapters  on  false  bouquets,  colors,  and  on 
the  methods  of  detecting  water  in  wine. 

Francisque  Chaverondier,  member  of  the  L?gioa  of  Honor,  Vice-President  of 
the  Viticultural  Society  of  the  Loire,  etc.  ( L.i  Vigmet  k  vin,  Paris,  Librarie  Agricole, 
26  Rue  Jacob),  says:  "When  wine  is  lacking  in  color,  they  have  in  some  vinicul- 
tural  districts  the  baleful  habit  of  giving  color  to  it  by  means  of  the  juice  of  myrtles, 
elderberries,  etc.  These  falsifications  are  always  to  be  condemned,  are  often  danger- 
ous, and  we  cannot  denounce  them  too  much.  The  vinj-growers  have  natural  means 
for  increasing  the  color  of  wine,  that  is,  by  the  plantation  of  varieties  of  vines,  which 
produce  wine  excessively  colored,  such  as  the  Teinturier  and  the  Corbeau." 

Among  the  other  works  to  which  I  might  refer  concerning  artificial  coloration, 
etc.,  are  :  "Z?«  vin,  etc."  by  Dr.  C.  Husson,  Vica-President  of  th^  Society  of  Phar- 
macy of  j\Ieurthe-et-Moselle,  Paris,  P.  Asselin,  Place  de  I'Ecole  de  IMedicine,  1877; 
"  Guide  pratique  pour  reconnaitre  et  corriger  lesfraiides  el  ks  maladies  du  vin,  suivi  d'un 
trade  d'aftulvse  chimique  de  tous  les  vin^,"  by  Jacques  Brun,  of  the  Swiss  Society  of 
Pharmaceutists,  Paris,  Eugene  Lacroix,  51  Rue  des  Saints-Peres;  "  Vins  sophistiques," 
by  Eticnne  Bastide,  pharmaceutist,  Beziers,  Lnprimerie  da  Commerce,  1876  ;  "Sur 
la  coloration  artificielle  des  vins — sur  quelqiies  movens  de  la  decelcr,"  by  P.  Carles,  pharma- 
ceutist of  Bordeaux,  Feret  et  Fils,  187 -i;  ^'Considerations  generaks  sur  la  coloation 
artificielle  des  vins;  movens  pratiques  propres  a  la  dkehrP  by  INL  !\Lirtin  Barbat,  Pharma- 
ceutist and  Secretary-General  of  the  Central  Coaacii  of  Hygiene  of  the  Department 
of  the  Gironde,  Bordeaux,  imprimerie,  G.  Gounouilhou,  No.  11  Rue  Guiraude,  1874. 

None  of  the  foregoing  works  are  of  a  sensational  character.  All  are  intensely 
serious,  scientific  and  practical. 

The  work  of  Dr.  Gautier  contains,  in  an  appendix,  valuable  official  papers, 
among  which  are  laws  relating  to  frauds  of  wines,  and  the  late  circular  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, issued  for  the  purpose  of  urging  officers  to  rigorously  enforce  the  laws,  and 
defining  what  is  considered  a  falsification;  also,  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Bouchardat,  Pro- 
fessor of  Hygiene  to  the  Faculty  of  Paris,  concerning  the  means  to  be  employed  to 
prevent  frauds  in  wines. 

ADULTERATION'S    WITH    ALCOHOL. 

The  use  of  distilled  spirits,  as  practiced  generally  in  France  in  the  fortification  of 
wines,  is  in  the  nature  of  a  fraud.  The  object  of  its  use  is  either  to  prepare  wines 
for  mixing  with  worthless  stu.ff,  or  to  preserve  weak  mixtures,  which  cannot  safely  be 
exported  without  its  aid.  Good  natural  wines  need  na  fortification.  I  have  six  kinds 
of  California  wines  here  at  present,  which  had  not  been  prepared  for  a  long  voyage, 
but  which  I  had  forwarded  to  me  from  Washington.  They  have  been  traveling 
nearly  all  the  time  since  May,  by  rail  and  sea,  across  from  San  Francisco  to  Wash- 
ington, changing  cellars  in  Washington,  rail  to  New  York,  by  sea  to  Liverpool,  by 
rail  and  steamer  from  Liverpool  to  Paris,  twice  changed  here  from  hotel  to  hotel;  yet 
every  bottle  turns  out  an  improved  wine,  which  pleases  the  most  fastidious  French- 
man, and  even  the  Americans,  who  prefer  to  buy  the  same  wine  under  a  French  label. 
The  Zinfandel  is  a  deliciou.^  wine,  as  every  one  attests,     INly   restaurateur  uisisis  ih.it 


67 

it  is  Bordeaux  wine.  The  Burgundy  was  compared  with  wine  of  that  class  here,  and 
the  difference  was  that  it  was  a  liltle  stronger,  a  defect  cured  on  the  instant  by  the 
addition  of  a  few  drops  of  water  at  table.  The  Riesling  proved  a  great  surprise;  it 
had  improved  so  much  that  a  critical  French  connoisseur,  to  whom  I  gave  some, 
could  not  find  anything  to  say,  except  in  unqualified  praise. 

The  majority  of  French  wines  would  require  fortification  wiih  alcohol  to  have  en- 
dured this  test,  because,  in  real  truth,  the  majority  of  French  wines  are  imperlect, 
weak  and  unmarketable  until  they  have  been  doctored.  This  is  a  hard  truth  for  the 
affected  American  connoisseur  to  swallow,  but  not  so  hard  as  it  would  be  for  him  to 
swallow  some  of  the  ingredients  of  h  s  favorite  brands  before  they  pass  through  the 
manipulation  of  French  wine  doctors. 

Concerning  the/ac/  of  the  abuse  of  fortification  with  spirits  in  France,  I  shall 
rely,  as  I  have  done  in  the  case  of  colorations,  upon  high  authority,  in  order  to  satisfy 
my  readers.  I  quoted  from  French  doctors  sometime  ago;  now  I  will  quote  the 
President  and  IMinistry  of  France.  In  the  project  of  a  law,  relating  to  the  vinage  (for- 
tification) of  wine,  presented  to  the  French  Assembly  by  INIons.  Leon  Say,  Minister 
of  Finance,  in  the  name  of  President  IMacMahon,  July  27ih,  1875,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing expressions: 

"Gentlemen:  The  vJtage  is  a  useful  operation,  without  doubt,  when  it  has  for 
its  object,  by  a  slight  addition  of  alcohol,  to  secure,  from  all  danger  of  alteration, 
wines  too  feeble  to  be  preserved.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  law  of  April  28th, 
1816,  established  the  precedent  of  exempting  from  the  tax  of  consumption  (Internal 
Revenue)  the  spirits  added  to  wines. 

"  But,  in  the  presence  of  the  abuses  of  w-hich  this  exemption  became  the  source 
and  of  the  great  prejudice  which  resulted  from  it  to  the  Treasury,  the  privilege  o( 
vinage,  free  of  tax,  was  restricted  in  1852,  to  seven  departments  of  the  South  ol 
France,  and  it  was  necessary,  in  1864,  to  suppress  it  completely.  All  addition  of  alco- 
hol to  wines,  carries  with  it  in  consequence  thereof,  under  the  present  laws,  the  pay- 
ment of  the  tax  of  125  francs  per  hectolitre  (nearly  $1  per  gallon),  and  even  some- 
times a  tax  01  175  francs  (about  $1  25  per  gallon).  :,<  .i:  *  -pj^g 
only  exception  to  this  rule  is  in  the  case  of  additions  of  alcohol  to  wines  destined  for 
exportation  to  foreign  countries,  and  provided  that  the  mixture  is  operated  at  the  port 
of  shipment,  or  at  the  point  of  departure,  at  the  very  moment  of  exportation." 

The  proposed  law  was  to  effect  a  reduction  of  the  tax  on  alcohol  added  to  wine 
for  French  consumption;  it  is  still  before  the  French  Legislature  in  a  modified  form. 
The  abuses,  which  the  Government  refer  to,  as  existing  prior  to  the  suppression  of 
vinage,  and  which  led  to  the  suppression,  still  exist  for  wines  expor/ed  horn  France.  I 
think  that  I  am  not  unjust  to  French  wines,  when  I  respectfully  suggest  that  laws, 
similar  to  the  French  laws  pertaining  to  falsifications  and  abuses  of  fortification,  should 
be  adopted  and  enforced  in  the  United  States  against  all  wines  and  liquors,  and  par- 
ticularly against  those  French  wines,  which  the  laws  of  France  would  not  tolerate  for 
home  consumption.  Notwithstanding  the  fear  of  arrest  and  punishment,  the  frauds 
in  France  go  on,  as  the  arrests  and  convictions  prove;  is  it  not,  then,  probable  that 
there  would  be  found  interesting  work  for  our  chemists,  if  called  upon  to  examine 
the  wines  shipped  to  us  under  circumstances  which  enable  frauds  to  be  perpetrated 
with  impunity.?  No  wine  should  be  permitted  to  be  shipped  to  the  United  States 
without  proper  precautions  against  falsifications,  which  can  be  provided  for  througli 


68 

the  regulations  of  the  Consular  offices,  and  none  should  be  permitted  to  enter  and  cir- 
culate in  our  countr}-,  which  a  nation,  so  experienced  in  wine-drinking  as  France  is, 
will  not  permit  to  be  used  by  the  French  people. 

The  frauds  of  mixing  water  with  wine  are  also  admitted  by  the  Government. 
In  the  same  document  quoted  last,  after  enumerating  certain  proposed  restrictions, 
limiting  the  privilege  of  fortification  at  reduced  rates  of  taxation  by  the  condition 
that  wines  shall  not  be  alcoholized  above  fifteen  per  cent,  of  total  strength,  except  on 
payment  of  double  taxes  for  any  excess,  1  find  the  following  expressions  : 

"  Notwithstanding  the  restrictions  which  have  just  been  enumerated,  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  the  practice  of  fortification,  with  reduction  of  taxes  to  30  francs  per 
hectolitre,  in  principal  (37  francs  50  centimes  with  decimes  included),  will  be  carried 
on  upon  a  large  scale,  since,  for  an  addition  of  3  per  cent,  of  alcohol  per  hectolitre 
of  wine,  there  will  be  due  to  the  Treasury  only  one  franc  and  an  eighth.  We  may 
expect,  therefore,  for  this  reason,  a  certain  increase  of  receipts  ;  but  it  must  not  be 
lost  sighc  of  that  a  great  number  of  speculators  will  direct  the  operations  of  fortifica- 
tion so  as  to  raise  to  at  least  fifteen  degrees  the  alcoholic  strength  of  all  their  wines 
which  they  intend  to  have  used  in  blending  {coupage),  whether  in  the  cities,  subjected 
to  a  single  tax,  or  whether  in  the  retail  shops,  where  the  doubling  with  water  is  so 
favorable  to  the  middleman.'' 

The  Minister  of  Finance  then  proceeds  to  show  how  this  encouragement  to 
fortification  will  aid  those  who  may  use  it  to  obtain  sufficient  strength  in  wines  to 
cover  a  large  addition  of  water,  and  recommends  that  if  the  proposed  reduction  be 
adopted,  it  be  further  limited  to  the  wines  of  187-1  and  1875,  and  that  the  privilege 
should  cease  September  30th,  1876.  In  a  foot  note  he  gives  a  demonstration  of  the 
probable  results  of  the  passage  of  the  law  as  follows  ■•  He  estimates  that  2,750,000 
hectolitres  (about  80,000,000  gallons)  of  neutral  wines  of  the  South  of  France,  hav- 
ing a  natural  strength  of  7.5  per  cent,  alcohol,  would  be  fortified  with  250,000  hec- 
tolitres of  trois-six  alcohol  (about  11,000,000  gallons  of  proof  spirits.)  In  this  way 
3,000,000  hectolitres  of  wine  having  an  average  strength  of  15  per  cent,  would  be 
obtained.  Then  he  says  :  "If  they  mix  these  three  million  hectolitres  of  alcoholized 
wine  with  2,800,000  hectolitres  of  acid  wines  of  the  centre  of  France,  containing  7.5 
per  cent,  of  alcohol,  they  will  obtain  a  mass  of  5,800,000  hectolitres  of  wine  at  11.38 
per  cent.  After  this  mixture  these  wines  will  be  able  still  to  support  an  addition  of  2,- 
450,080  hectolitres  of  water,  and  the  product  of  this  operation  will  enable  them  to 
deliver  8,250,000  hectolitres  (about  250,000,000  gallons)  of  wine  of  an  average 
strength  of  8  per  cent.  Admitting  that  the  fraudulent  doublings  with  water  may  be 
practiced  only  on  a  half  of  the  quantity  fortified,  the  losses  to  the  Treasury  and  the 
profits  of  the  reduced  tax  would  almost  balance  each  other.'' 

The  losses  are  estimated  because  the  water  added  to  the  wine  would  pay  no  tax 
to  the  Government. 

What  more  serious  remark  concerning  the  morality  of  the  wine  trade  in  France 
can  I  offer  after  quoting  the  Minister  of  Finance  .'  Recollect  that  all  the  frauds  which 
the  suppression  of  vinage  prevents  are  possible  with  the  exported  wines,  because  there 
is  no  restriction  whatever  for  the  benefit  of  the  health  of  the  foreign  consumer.  The 
practice  of  adding  water  to  wine  for  exportation  cannot  be  carried  to  such  an  extent 
as  when  for  home  consumption,  on  account  of  the  necessity  for  keeping  the  wine 
good  during  transportation  ;  but,  in  exportation  to  the  United  States,  the  wines  can  be 


69 

alcoholized  up  to  24  per  cent.,  if  required,  and  watered  in  our  countr\-  before  con- 
sumption. The  cost  of  German  alcohol  in  bond  which  pays  no  dut}-  when  exported 
in  the  form  of  alcoholized  wine,  is  very  little — less  than  thirty  cents  a  gallon  of  proof 
spirits  ;  the  exact  figure  I  have  not  at  hand  at  this  moment.  If  the  United  Stales 
should  tax  all  wine  for  its  excess  of  alcohol  above  natural  strength  the  same  as  distilled 
spirits,  the  wines  we  drink  would  be  much  better,  because  the  French  houses  could  not 
then  afford  to  add  the  spirits,  and  the  American  houses  could  not  well  afford  to  add 
much  at  home,  because  then  they  would  have  to  pay  the  internal  revenue  tax.  How- 
ever, two  gallons  of  proof  spirits,  worth  about  two  dollars  and  ten  cents,  would  fortify 
ten  gallons  of  water.  How  much  of  such  business  is  done  in  America  is  a  problem 
for  future  consideration  ;  but  it  is  self-evident  that,  if  done  at  all,  the  government  has 
a  right  to  compel  it  to  be  done  with  American  spirits  that  have  paid  taxes,  or  exact 
the  proper  import  tax  upon  the  quantities  of  German  spirits  added  in  France. 

Again,  the  French  Minister  of  Finance,  in  the  same  document  says  :  "  How- 
ever, we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  that  the  fabrication  of  imit^Ltions  of  vins  de  h'queur 
and  of  vermouth,  and  that  the  preparation  of  alcoholized  wines,  destined  for  exporta- 
tion, constitute  an  industry  that  we  cannot  hinder  without  favoring  foreign  products, 
which  begin  to  compete  with  our  own  in  the  interior  markets,  and  wi'.hout  affecting 
our  exportations.  Therefore,  the  Administration  has  been  lead,  in  the  absence  of 
precise  provisions  of  law  which  may  serve  as  rules  of  action,  to  grant  to  manufacturers 
of  imitation  wines  and  vins  de  liqueurs,  as  well  as  to  wholesale  exporting  merchants, 
concessions,  more  or  less  extended,  which,  being  without  legal  sanction,  have  given 
rise  to  such  abuses  that  we  have  found  it  necessary  to  return,  in  certain  respects^  to 
the  rigorous  observance  of  actual  legislation." 

It  is  this  kind  of  trade  which  France  has  encouraged,  as  the  Minister  of  Finance 
admits,  that  the  United  States  is  now  asked  to  still  further  foster  by  a  change  in  the  com- 
mercial tariff.  Can  I  add  anything  more  forcible  against  the  proposition  than  what  is 
contained  in  Mr.  Leon  Say's  document  .'*  Can  I  add  any  stronger  argument  in  favor  of 
laws  on  our  part  to  discourage  such  trade .'  I  think  that  I  shall  be  able  to  show,  before  I 
finish  these  subjects,  that  we  do  need  a  change  in  our  tariff,  and  that  the  greed  of 
these  French  manipulators  of  vins  de  cargaison  and  adulterations  has  done  us  some 
good  by  calling  our  attention  to  the  kind  of  change  we  need.  We  need  a  tariff  that 
will  discriminate  between  all  alcoholic  drinks  that  are  not  true  to  name  and  label,  and 
against  all  wines  that  are  not  the  natural  products  of  fermentation. 

In  another  paragraph  the  French  Minister  says  :  "  Article  4  (of  the  proposed 
law)  establishes  a  special  rule  for  the  manufacturers  of  champagne  wines.  These 
wines  receive,  in  fact,  a  light  alcoholization.  Although  it  is  a  matter  only  of  a  tax — 
very  small  as  compared  with  the  value  of  the  wines — we  think,  nevertheless,  that  it  is 
useful  to  grant  the  discharge  of  this  tax  in  the  case  of  exportation." 

I  am  making  my  letter  so  long  that  I  shall  not  attempt  to  moralize  upon  these 
authorities  which  I  have  referred  to.  I  quote  them  to  satisfy  those  of  my  readers,  who 
don't  know  a  pure  wine  or  brandy  when  they  taste  it,  that  France  has  become  a  great 
manufacturing  nation,  setting  the  fashi  n  in  mixed  drinks  for  the  whole  world,  and  for 
our  people  especially.  Most  of  the  imported  wines  and  "  brandies  "  in  the  United 
States  have  been  prepared  by  skillful  operators,  so  as  to  please  the  senses  of  taste, 
smell  and  sight,  and  even  feeling  (for  the  soft  feeling  upon  the  tongue  and  palate  is 
what  enables  hot  German  alcohols  to  pass  American  lips  as  fine  brandies  and  liqueurs). 


70 

It.is  with  these  as  standards  that  the  average  American  undertakes  to  judged  the 
merits  of  pure  native  wines,  which  would  be  drunk  readily  in  France,  but  which 
must  be  doctored  by  the  importers,  mixed  with  French  vin  de  cargaison  and  labeled 
with  French  fashionable  etiquettes  before  the  American  will  use  them.  I  hope  that 
the  Press  will  generally  give  some  attention  to  the  true  merits  of  this  trade  in  French 
liquors,  which  we  are  asked  to  encourage. 

The  simple  truth  is,  as  I  have  said  before,  that  France  does  not  produce  a  large 
quantity  of  fine  wines,  and  that  the  whole  amount  of  all  kinds  of  wines  and  brandies 
produced  legitimately  is  not  sufficient  to  supply  home  consumption  and  the  foreign 
trade.  The  production  is  rapidly  decreasing  ;  where,  then,  is  the  merit  in  the 
demand  that  we  should  pass  laws  to  increase  her  exports  to  our  country  ?  There  is 
no  excess  of  pure  wine  in  France;  but  there  are  thousands  of  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers ready  to  send  us  cognacs  made  from  alcohol  of  beet  roots  and  potatoes,  and 
wines  "  doctored  "  in  secret,  the  methods  of  which  they  refuse  to  reveal. 

AUTHORITIES  ON    COUPAGES. 

The  best  publications  which  I  can  find  treating  on  the  practical  methods  and 
rules  for  mixing,  blending,  and  producing  vins  de  cargaisons,  and  all  sorts  of  imita- 
tions of  wines,  liquors  and  spirits,  are  the  following  : 

Traiie  Theorique  et  pratique  de  vimficaimi^  etc.,  by  L.  P.  Dubief,  manufacturing 
distiller:  Veuve  Paul  Chaumas,  Bordeaux  ;  Manuel  pratique  des  negociants  en  vins  et 
spiriteux,  etc.,  Paris,  office  of  the  Moniieur  Vimcole,  6  rue  de  Beaune ;  Le  par/ait 
viaitre  de  chat,  etc.,  by  Peyron,  Paris,  Magnin  Blanchard  &  Co.,  No.  3  rue  Honore 
Chevallier  ;  Amelioration  des  liquides  (one  of  the  series  of  the  Encyclopedie-Roret), 
Paris,  Librairie  Encyclopedique  de  Roret,  Na  12,  rue  Hautefeuille  ;  Chauffage  des 
vins,  etc.,  by  Giret  and  Vinas,  Paris,  Librairie  Agricole,  26  rue  Jacob  ;  Distillateur 
Liquoriste,  (Encyclopedie-Roret)  ;  also  the  better  known  works  of  Ladrey,  Boireau, 
Maumene,  Duplais,  Vergnette-Lamotte  and  others,  all  of  which  can  be  easily  obtained 
by  application  to  any  of  the  leading  French  bookstores. 

The  par/ait  maitre  is  a  perfect  text  book,  composed  after  the  manner  of  a  work 
on  algebra,  with  rules,  examples  and  problems  to  work  out.  The  Manuel  pratique 
contains,  besides  rules  concerning  coiipages,  all  the  necessary  information  for  a  fair 
understanding  of  the  French  system  of  octroi  and  the  relations  of  the  merchant  to  the 
Government  of  France. 

Dr.  Le  Canu's  work.  Etude  sur  les  raisins,  leurs produits  et  la  vinification,  Paris, 
Edouard  Blot,  66  rue  Turenne,  contains  interesting  analyses  of  the  juice  of  grapes 
and  records  of  experiments. 

Dubief's  work,  above  quoted,  has  thirteen  pages  devoted  to  the  subject — meth- 
ods of  imitating  all  kinds  of  wines  with  one  kind  of  grape. 

The  Amelioration  des  liquides  and  the  Distillateur  contain  advertisements  of  scores 
of  such  chemical  compounds  for  perfuming,  flavoring,  aging,  etc.,  wines  and  spirits, 
such  as  the  liqueur  Tras  forest,  which  I  have  before  referred  to.  The  other  works, 
especially  \ki(t  Manuel  pratique,  gives  pages  of  advertisers,  who  have  Fleur  de  Bordeaux , 
Fleur  de  Bourgogne,  and  such  things  useful  to  the  French  manufacturer  of  adulterated 
wines  and  imitations.  These  works  avoid  mentioning  colorations  forbidden  by  law, 
and  the  quantities  of  water  that  may  be  used  in  certain  mixtures  ;  such  things  are  left 
for  practical  and  secret  experiments.     I  will  finish  this  letter  by  quoting  a  few  extracts 


71 

fro-.n  the  ^Ta•.l■lel  p>\it:qtcc,  which  has  been  published  under  th'2  auspices  of  as  hio:h  an 
authority  as  the  M  n:ieur  Vmicoh  of  Paris  : 

"Suppose  that  at  Bercy  (the  Paris  wine  quarter)  they  wish  to  make  a  wine  capa- 
ble of  being  sold  at  the  counter  under  the  name  of  Petit  Bordeaux.     We  will  take: 

Macon  wine 10  hectolitres 

Narbonne,  or  Tavel  wine 10         " 

Ain  (Bugey)  " 10 

Dry  and  hard  "    10 

Total 40  hectolitres 

"  In  the  Gironde  (Bordeaux),  they  send  to  England,  under  the  name  of  Bor- 
deaux, the  following'  coupage  .• 

Bordeaux  wine 18  hectolitres 

Spanish       "      3 

Dark  red  wine  of  the  Midi 6         " 

Alcohol 1 

Total 28  hectolitres 

"To  cure  a  wine  with  an  earthy  taste: 

Wine  with  earthy  taste 2  hectolitres 

Red  wine  of  good  taste 4         " 

Vin  Muet 6  litres. 

Add  Fleur  de  Bourgogne^  or  de  Bordeaux. 

Vin  Muet  is  the  term  applied  to  grape  juice,  unfermented,  preserved  by  means 
of  sulphurous  acid  fumes. 

No.v,  for  the  special  gratification  of  our  connoisseurs,  who  "  never  drink  anything 
except  fine  wines  of  France,"  I  will  conclude  this  letter  by  quoting  from  the  same 
authority  the  following: 

"  We  will  finish  this  chapter  by  giving  the  formula  for  several  imitation  wines, 
composed  either  for  exportation,  or  to  flatter  the  vanity  of  consumers  who  desire  to 
drink,  at  cheap  prices,  an  appearance  of  renowned  wines. 

BURGUNDY. 

Roussillon,  or  Narbonne 55  litres 

White  wine 25     " 

Old  Red  Alicante   10     " 

Old  Sherry 5     " 

Vin  noir  of  Narbonne 5     " 

Total 100  litres 

CHAMBERTIN. 

Narbonne,  or  Roussillon 75  litres 

Red  Alicante 10  " 

Sherry 5  " 

Malaga 5  " 

Madeira 6  " 

Total. 100  litres 


72 

BORDEAUX. 

Narbonne,  or  Roussillon 60  litres. 

\\'hite  Wine  of  s:^ood  quality 25     " 

Old  Red  Alicante 12     " 

Old  Malaga 3     " 

Total 100  litres. 

CHATEAU  MARGAUX. 

Old  Narbonne 47  litres. 

Light  White  Wine 20     " 

Sherry 10     " 

Red  Alicante 20     " 

Malaga 3     " 

Total 100  litres. 

SAUTERNE. 

Old  White  Wine 55  litres. 

Dry       "       "       25     " 

Sherry 10     " 

Madeira 10     '< 

Total 100  litres. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  base  of  the  above  imitations  is  a  mixture  of  cheap  wines 

of  the  Midi,  alcoholized,  with  flavoring  of  rich  wines  of  Spain.     At  the  present  time, 

the  heavy  red  wines  of  Spain  take  the  place  of  the  Roussillon  and  Narbonne,   on 

account  of  the  increased  price  of  those  wines,  caused  by  the  decrease  of  the  crops  of 

the  Midi  by  reason  of  phylloxera. 

C.  A.  W. 


General  Statistics  and  Facts  pertaining  to  Production, 
Consumption,  Importation  and  Exportation  of  Wines 
in  France. 

Paris,  November  9th,  1878. — I  wish  in  this  letter  to  present,  in  condensed 
form,  some  salient  facts  concerning  production,  consumption,  importation  and  ex- 
portation, affecting  questions  of  French  wine  and  spirit  industries  and  commerce, 
before  entering  especially  upon  the  subject  of  the  nature  of  the  commerce  between 
France  and  the  United  States.  The  subject  matters  will  be  dry  reading,  but  I 
respectfully  recommend  a  careful  consideration  of  them  to  those  of  my  readers  who 
desire  to  form  intelligent  opinions,  not  only  concerning  wines  of  present  consumption 
in  the  United  States,  but  also  concerning  the  sources  of  supply. 

The  French  official  statistics,  concerning  production  and  consumption,  are  not 
exact  ;  but  they  are  sufficiendy  approximate  for  general  deductions  and  comparisons. 
The  tables  furnished  by  the  Ministers  of  Finance  and  Commerce,  being  prepared  from 
reports  of  different  origin,  do  not  agree.  Doctor  Lunier,  in  his  work  on  production 
and  consumption,  accounts  for  these  differences,  as  follows  :  Certain  Mayors  of  cities, 
who  are  called  upon  by  the  officers  of  the  Revenue  Bureau  for  information,  fearing 
that  the  figures  given  may  be  used  as  a  basis  for  taxation,  return  statements  of  areas 


73 

of  vines  showing  less  than  tlic  actual  truth.  The  tables  of  tlic  IMinisters  of  Com- 
merce are  made  up  from  reports  of  official  correspondents  in  each  canton,  who  return 
statements  derived  from  the  producers  themseh-es.  The  average  price  of  wine  in  the 
tables  of  the  latter  represent  the  prices  realized  at  the  vineyards,  while  the  prices  given 
by  the  jNIinister  of  Finance  are  generally  those  of  the  wholesale  dealers  in  towns. 
The  Statistiqiie  GeneraJe  shows  oiher  variations.  I  am  inclined  to  rely  generally  upon 
the  work  of  Dr.  Lunier,  because  it  is  the  result  of  comparative  study  and  research, 
and  not  merely  the  simple  compilation  of  the  reports  in  one  department.  The  figures 
giving  areas  of  vines,  total  production  and  average  products  per  hectare  (2.47  acres) 
are  approximately  even,  but  the  prices  of  the  products  show  in  the  reports  of  the  Fi- 
nance Department  nearly  double  those  in  the  Department  of  Commerce.  For 
instance,  the  Finance  Reports  give  the  average  prices  of  wine  per  hectolitre,  in  1871, 
at  52  francs,  and  1872  at  52.50  francs,  while  in  the  reports  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce  they  are  as  follows  :  1871,  26.60  francs  ;  1872,  27.50  francs.  The  former 
prices  are,  no  doubt,  those  upon  which  the  movements  of  commerce  are  based,  just 
as  I  found  in  Bordeaux  the  prices  current  of  the  Board  of  Trade  higher  than  the 
prices  quoted  for  actual  purchases  at  the  vineyards. 

From  the  official  tables  I  glean  the  following  statements:  The  areas  in  vines 
were  as  follows:  In  1808,  4,034,347  acres;  1840,  5,000,000  acres;  1862,  5,800,- 
000  acres;  1870,  6,000,000  acres.  These  areas  have  been  given  differently  at  differ- 
ent times,  owing  to  reliance  upon  different  reports.  The  figures  above  are,  however, 
probably  sufficiently  accurate  for  any  study  our  people  may  choose  to  make  of  the 
subject. 

The  annual  production  has  varied  enormously.  In  1808,  739,500,000  gallons; 
in  1850,  1,188,450,000  gallons.  Then  it  fell  off"  rapidly  until  1854,  when  the  pro- 
duct was  only  289,800,000  gallons.  This  decrease  was  caused  by  oidium  on  the  vines, 
which  threatened  to  entirely  destroy  them,  until  the  sulphur  cure  was  found,  after 
which  the  production  rapidly  increased  again,  until,  in  1857,  a  normal  production  of 
910,000,000  was  reached.  In  1858,  an  extraordinary  production  of  one  billion  four 
hundred  millions  was  recorded,  followed  the  next  year  by  seven  hundred  and  eightv 
millions.  From  1864  to  1877,  the  average  annual  product  has  been  one  billion  five 
hundred  and  five  million  gallons.  The  crop  of  1877  was  an  average  crop,  falling 
only  about  fifteen  million  gallons  short.  This  year's  crop  will  probably  be  much 
less.  In  1873  there  was  a  short  crop,  and  in  1875  an  extraordinary  one;  the  latter 
reaching  the  unprecedented  amount  of  hvo  billion  07ie  hwidred  and  ninety  viillion 
gallons! 

The  phylloxera,  oidium  and  other  diseases,  are  now  affecting  the  wine  production 
seriously,  notwithstanding  the  increased  demand  for  wines  has  caused  the  culture  of 
the  vine  to  be  pushed  to  the  greatest  extent  in  all  places  where  it  may  succeed,  in 
order  to  provide  against  the  failures  in  other  places.  The  net  decrease  in  the  areas 
of  vineyards  shown  in  one  year — 1876  to  1877 — is  50,000  acres,  according  to 
official  reports  ;  but  this  figure  is  only  a  statement  of  the  excess  of  vineyards  actually 
abandoned,  over  new  vineyards.  At  least  1,000,000  acres,  or  2,000,000,000  vines, 
have  been  ruined,  so  far  as  production  is  concerned,  and  the  crop  this  year  is  less  than 
the  average,  wherever  the  vines  are  producing. 

I  have  given  the  foregoing  statement  in  American  wine  gallons,  the  hectolitre 
being  the  unit  for  large  estimates  here.     Heretofore,  I  have  frequently  referred  to  the 


74 

hectolitre  as  containing  twenty-two  gallons,  which  is  the  estimate  in  Imperial 
gallons,  English  measure  ;  the  proper  estimate  ior  us  is  20.40  gallons.  Our 
wine  gallon  contains  3.7854:4  litres,  according  to  the  regulations  of  the  Con- 
sular Offices.  This  estimate  causes  the  gross  amounts  given  above  to  seem  much 
larger  than  generally  given,  because  they  are  usually  estimated  in  Imperial  gallons. 

During  the  past  ten  years,  the  average  product  of  wine  to  the  acre  in  France  has 
been  2G0  gallons  ;  the  average  price  at  the  vineyards,  eighteen  cents  per  gallon.  The 
average  price  in  commerce  has  been  about  double  the  original  cost.  The  cost  of 
handling,  preserving,  and  disposing  of  wine,  after  it  has  been  produced,  is  very  great, 
when  compared  with  the  cheapest  prices  at  the  vineyards. 

THE  WINE  PRODUCT  OF  EUROPE. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison,  I  will  give  a  single  statement,  in  round  numbers 
(American  wine  gallons),  of  the  wine  products  of  the  wine-growing  countries  of 
Europe,  for  average  years  : 

France 1,505,000,000  gallons. 

Spain 523,000,000  " 

Portugal 130,750,000  " 

Italy 810,650,000  " 

Austro-Hungary 575,800,000 

Germany 150,900,000  " 

Switzerland 10,400,000  " 

Russia  and  Turkey 52,300,000  " 

Greece  and  Cyprus 20,150,000  " 

Roumania 15,690,000  " 

Total  average  annual  European  product 3,230,900,000  gallons. 

CONSUMPTION    OF    WINE   IN    FRANCE. 

The  vast  variations  in  the  annual  productions  of  wine  in  France  have  very  little 
effect  upon  the  quantities  exported,  though  they  affect,  to  some  extent,  the  imports. 
These  variations  affect,  quite  considerably,  the  question  of  home  consumption,  though 
there  is  no  direct  ratio  of  comparison.  Wines  in  France  are,  more  or  less,  kept  in 
cellars  to  improve  by  age.  Much  is  kept  until  two  years  old;  also  a  large  stock  of 
superior  wines  for  a  longer  time.  But  the  great  bulk  of  the  wine  product  is  of  very 
ordinary  quality,  is  sent  to  the  manipulators,  who  blend  it  and  water  it,  and  is  not 
kept  long.  The  stock  on  hand,  however,  is  always  large  enough  to  make  up  ordi- 
nary deficiencies  of  exceptionally  short  crops.  The  stock,  however,  is  higher  priced 
than  the  ordinar}'  cheap  wines  of  ordinary  years;  hence  the  great  manipulators  use  it 
as  economically  as  possible. 

The  statistics  of  consumption,  per  capita,  are  based  upon  the  receipt  of  taxes 
upon  the  wine  as  it  passes  the  Octroi  officers,  and  enters  into  circulation.  Hence  if, 
after  a  year  of  short  crops  of  wine,  the  amount  apparendy  consumed  as  shown  by 
octroi  receipts,  is  smaller  than  usual,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  quantity  of  liquid 
called  wine,  actually  consumed,  is  much  less  than  usual.  Where  wine  is  abundant 
and  cheap,  there  is  less  temptation  to  water  and  adulterate  it;  when  it  is  scarce  and 
dear  the  temptation  is  not  less  understood  than  the  fact  of  fraud  itself  Hence  it  is 
not  in  the  interest  of  any  wine-producing  and  wine-consuming  nation,  the  product  of 
whose  wines  is  not  very  much  in  excess  of  the  consumption  of  its  own  people,  to  cre- 
ate a  large  and  growing  foreign  demand  for  its  wines.     France  would  be  the  greatest 


75 

sufferer  if  her  merchants  should  succeed  now  in  increasing  largely  the  exportation  of 
wines,  because  that  would  materially  affect  the  stocks  on  hand  and  the  prices  in  the 
market. 

The  consumption  of  wine  in  France  has  been  steadily  increasing  ;  all  the  excess 
of  each  year  has  been  easily  disposed  of ;  old  wines  in  store  are  becoming  rarer ; 
the  product  is  now  in  danger  of  rapid  decrease.  The  present  supply  is  shown  to  be 
deficient  by  the  existence  of  so  many  frauds,  imitations  and  adulterations ;  the 
demand  for  the  wine  has  practically  stopped  the  distillation  of  wine  into  brandy  ;  the 
brandy  supply  is  very  small,  while  the  consumption  of  alcohols  is  vastly  increased  ; 
hence,  France  will  have,  for  some  time  to  come  at  least,  no  excess  of  pure  natural 
wine  or  brandies  to  export,  and  will  have  no  need  of  any  increasing  market ;  hence, 
also,  foreign  nations  cannot  expect  to  call  upon  France  for  any  considerable  increase 
of  shipments  of  pure  wine  and  brandy.  I  will  show,  bj'  and  by,  that  the  commerce 
is  now  too  large  for  the  supply. 

In  estimating  the  quantities  of  wine  consumed  in  France,  Dr.  Lunier  gives  the 
following  comparative  statements,  estimated  in  hectolitres,  as  average  results  for  each 
year  of  the  periods  indicated  ; 

1829-1838.   1864-1873. 

Production 33,800,000         59,400,000 

Importation 2,000  400,000 

Total  resources 33,802,000  59,800,000 

Exportation 1,250,000  2,600,000 

Converted  into  vinegar 550,000  300,000 

Distilled 8,500,000  5,400,000 

Quantity  upon  which  taxes  of  consumption  were  paid.  ..  13,000,000  25,400,000 

Quantity  consumed  free  of  taxes 6,600,000  19,500,000 

Leakage,  fraudulent  consumption,  etc 3,902,000  6,600,000 

Total 33,802,000        59,800,000 

Total  of  last  three  items — being  consumption  in  France..  .   23,502,000         51,500,000 

The  last  three  items  together  approximately  represent  the  average  quantity  of 
wine  consumed  annually  during  the  above  mentioned  periods.  Wine  is  consumed  at 
the  vineyards  free  of  taxation.  Portions  are  also  accounted  for  by  fraudulent  sales, 
wherein  the  government  is  defrauded  of  the  amount  of  taxes  thereon.  These  figures 
represent  the  actual  and  natural  wines  as  produced  at  the  vineyards;  by  the  system  of 
dedoullage  (watering),  coloration  and  fortification,  the  amount  consumed  is  probably 
increased  at  least  one-fourth  in  volume  before  it  reaches  the  consumer. 

The  important  facts  to  notice  are  that  while  the  production  of  wine  increased 
25,000,000  hectolitres  annually  (076,440,000  gallons),  the  increase  of  exports  was 
only  35,652,500  gallons;  yet  so  great  was  the  growing  demand  for  home  consumption 
that  the  quantities  converted  into  brandy,  alcohol  and  vinegar,  were  greatly  decreased, 
and  the  quantities  of  wine  imported  increased  from  56,800  to  10,560,000  gallons. 
The  decrease  in  the  quantities  converted  into  alcohol,  brandy  and  vinegar,  was  two 
and  a  half  times  greater  than  the  increase  of  exportations.  Hence  there  could  have 
been  no  excess  of  wine,  because,  if  so,  more  would  have  been  turned  into  spirits  and 
vinegar.     Meanwhile,  also,  the  price  of  wine  has  been  constantly  rising. 

During  this  time  the  supply  of  distilled  spirits  has  also  increased,  notwithstanding 
tlie  decreaiie  of  distillation  of  wine,  from  976,500  hectolitres  in  1840,  to  1,486.233 


76 

hectolitres  in  1873;  in  1840,  900,000  were  from  the  grape,  and  only  76,500  from 
beet  roots  and  other  substances,  while  in  1873,  only  373,262  were  from  the  grape, 
and  1,112,971  were  from  beet  roots,  etc.  An  immense  quantity  of  imported  spirits 
was  also  used  in  the  bonded  warehouses,  to  manufacture  for  the  foreign  commerce 
imitation  liqueurs,  cognacs,  kirsch,  absinthe,  etc. 

The  main  deduction,  which  I  draw  from  these  facts,  is  that  home  consumption 
increases  in  such  a  rapid  and  forcible  manner,  probably  because  means  of  transporta- 
tion are  improved,  that  the  foreign  market  cannot  be  well  supplied;  and  that  the  de- 
crease of  distillation  of  wine  and  increase  of  importations  indicate  that  the  supplies  of 
wines  produced  in  France  are  too  small  to  satisfy  the  demand.  The  commerce  in 
so-called  cognacs  has  increased,  yet  the  production  of  genuine  brandies  has  decreased 
because  wine  is  worth  more  to  manufacture  of  vhi  de  cargaison  and  cheap  coupages 
than  to  the  distillers. 

Since  1873  the  exportation  of  wmes  has  increased  to  about  three  million  hec- 
tolitres annually;  meanwhile,  however,  the  great  increase  of  imports  shows  that  more 
wine  cannot  be  exported  without  creating  a  deficit  at  home.  Increased  exportation 
has  also  caused  directly  an  increased  importation,  because  most  of  the  wines  exported 
are  merely  mixtures  of  Spanish  and  Italian  red  wines  with  the  poorest  qualities  of 
French  white  and  red  wines. 

During  the  period  1829-1838,  the  average  consumption  of  wine  in  France  per 
capita  was  63  litres  annually,  or  about  17  gallons.  During  the  very  small  crops  from 
1850  to  1855,  the  consumption  fell  down  as  low  as  31  litres;  but  as  soon  as  normal 
production  was  restored,  it  increased  rapidly,  until,  in  1872  it  was  126.6  litres,  or  34 
gal  Ions /^r  capita. 

These  figures,  however,  do  not  fairly  represent  the  consumption  of  the  wine- 
drinking  communities.  France,  by  reason  of  its  intricate  system  of  octroi  taxation, 
is  divided  up  into  many  different  commercial  parts,  each  of  which  is  commercially 
foreign  to  the  other.  Wine  cannot  come  from  Bordeaux  to  Paris,  or  to  any  other 
place  in  France,  without  paying  taxes  of  entry,  just  as  though  the  places  were  foreign 
countries.  For  instance,  a  box  of  books  which  I  brought  from  Bordeaux  to  Paris 
had  to  be  smashed  open  in  the  Paris  depot,  to  see  whether  I  had  not  smuggled  a  few 
botdes  of  brandy  or  wine.  It  is  as  much  trouble  to  get  into  Paris  with  baggage  from 
Bordeaux  as  it  is  from  New  York.  Hence  it  is  that  in  districts,  especially  in  the  north 
and  northwest  of  France,  where  no  wine  is  produced,  very  little  is  consumed,  except 
in  large  cities.  France  needs  a  commercial  treaty  between  Bordeaux  and  the  Nor- 
mandy Provinces  far  more  than  she  needs  one  with  the  United  States.  It  is  an  exten- 
sion of  commerce  within  France,  caused  mainly  by  improved  railway  transportation, 
that  creates  the  increasing  consumption  of  wines,  and  which  tends  to  make  it  still 
more  difficult  each  year  for  France  to  supply  pure  wines  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
satisfy  foreign  demands. 

The/^r  capita  consumption  of  wine  is  greater  in  the  wine-drinking  communi- 
ties than  the  figures  above  indicate,  based  upon  the  population  of  all  France.  Rail- 
way facilities  and  a  special  treaty  with  Spain  increase  the  supplies  for  the  Paris 
market,  hence  the  remarkable  progression  of  the  per  capita  consumption  in  this  city. 
From  1841  to  1850  it  was  100.5  litres  annually;  in  1873  it  was  221.2  litres,  or  about 
60  gallons. 


77 

In  Lyons  the  consumption /^r  capita  during  18G5-69  was  about  59  gallons  annu- 
ally. In  Bordeaux,  during  the  same  period,  58  gallons,  and  57  gallons  in  1871.  In 
the  Herault,  before  the  great  ravages  of  the  phyllo.'vera,  it  was  65  gallons.  In  Mar- 
seilles it  is  about  45  gallons. 

In  the  nine  northwestern  departments  the  average  consumpiion  in  1873  was  only 
four  gallons ;  in  1859  it  was  only  two.  In  the  eleven  northern  departments,  includ- 
ing Paris,  when  the  figure  was  GO  gallons,  the  entire  average  is  brought  down  to  23 
by  the  small  quantity  circulating  in  the  other  parts. 

In  a  former  letter  I  explained  how  it  is  that  in  the  places  where  the  least  wine 
is  consumed  the  consumption  of  distilled  alcohols  is  greater  and  the  evil  results  o( 
intemperance  more  marked. 

Ai  I  have  remarked  before,  these  figures  of  consumption  are  based  solely  upon 
the  quantities  of  wine  produced,  taxed,  etc.,  and  must  be  increased  by  the  amount  of 
water,  alcohol,  etc.,  added  before  consumed.  If  the  production  of  natural  wine  were 
equal  to  the  present  demand,  the  figures  would  probably  be  much  larger,  while  tha 
actual  demand  of  consumers  might  not  be  increased, — there  would  be  less  adultera- 
tions. 

CONSUMPTION    OF   WINE    IN    OTHER    COUNTRIES. 

The  following  statement  of  per  capita  consumption  of  wine  in  other  countries 
will  be  interesting  to  note  :  Italy,  32  gallons  ;  Portugal,  22  ;  Switzerland,  13  ; 
Austria,  14  ;  Spain,  8  ;  Wirtemberg,  5. 

In  countries  like  Spain,  the  working  class  use  common  alcohol,  diluted  and 
flavored  with  anise  seed,  as  a  common  beverage.  The  poverty  of  masses  of  people 
always  reduces  the  consumption  of  wine  and  increases  that  of  cheap  alcohols. 

CONSUMPTION    OF    SPIRITS. 

I  have  already  touched  upon  the  production  of  distilled  spirits,  and  shown  how 
it  has  increased  in  France,  while  at  the  same  time  the  distillation  of  brandies  and 
alcohols  from  wine  has  decreased.  The  main  source  of  production  now  is  from  the 
beet  root.  In  the  tables  of  production  there  is  a  distinction  made  between  alcohol 
from  beet  roots  and  alcohol  from  melasses,  but  it  should  be  understood  that  the 
molasses  is  chiefly  the  product  of  beet  roots.  The  process  of  disdlling  is  different 
however.  In  the  first  case  the  spirits  are  distilled  from  fermented  beet  root ;  in  the 
latter  from  molasses  or  syrup,  which  forms  the  residuum  after  the  crystallization  of  beet 
sugar. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  obtain  satisfactory  statisdcs  of  the  consumption  of  distilled 
spirits  in  France  than  that  of  wines.  To  illustrate  this,  I  will  refer  again  to  Dr. 
Lunier,  rather  than  to  the  government  reports.  He  gives  a  table  showing  the 
amounts  upon  which  taxes  have  been  paid,  and  then  says  :  "To  the  preceding  figures 
one  may,  with  safety  for  the  whole  of  France,  add  about  a  fifth  part  for  the  consump- 
tion en  franchise  and  fraud."  There  is  a  certain  quantity  allowed  to  be  consumed  at 
the  distilleries  free  of  tax,  or  en  franchise.  He  estimates,  however,  the  consumption 
for  1878  at  1,024,085  hectolitres  out  of  an  average  production,  during  ten  years,  of 
1,409,754  hectolitres.  In  the  wine  producing  Department  of  the  Gironde  (Bordeaux) 
the  per  capita  consumption,  in  1873,  was  :  Distilled  spirits,  1.36  litres  ;  wine,  180  ; 
beer,  3.73.  In  the  Pas-dc-Calais,  along  the  coast  uf  the  British  Channel,  the  figures 
were  :    Spirits,  G.34  ;  wine,  10.8  ;  beer,  152.79.     In  die  Nord,  north  of  Paris  ;  Spirits, 


78 

4.G5  ;  wine,  9  ;  beer,  220.  In  Ille-et-Vilaine,  also  in  the  north  :  Spirits,  3.48 ;  wine, 
10.6  ;  cider,  247.14  ;  beer,  8.39.  In  the  Seino  Inferieur,  west  of  Paris,  the  spirits  are 
increased  to  10  Hires.  In  tlie  Charente  (the  cognac  country)  the  figure  is  only  nine- 
icnths  of  a  litre,  or  about  one  bottle  per  annum  to  the  inhabitant.  The  people  have 
plcn'.y  of  wine  in  the  Charente,  and  the  fact  that  they  drink  so  little  spirits  is  a  fair 
proof  that  wine  does  not  excite  them  to  its  use,  notwithstanding  it  is  so  largely  pro- 
duced where  they  live.  Of  course,  if  the  whole  quantity  used  en  franchise  were  known, 
the  figure  would  be  larger ;  but  the  associated  statistics  of  health  and  the  small  pro- 
portion of  evil  results  from  intemperance,  prove  at  least  that,  if  they  do  drink  brandies, 
they  do  not  suffer  evil  consequences.  The  statistics  are  decidedly  in  favor  of  either 
the  wine,  or  the  spirits  distilled  from  wine  ;  and  very  much  against  badly  fermented 
ciders  and  common  alcohols- 

IMPORTATIONS. 

I  have  procured  copies  of  statistical  reports,  books  and  laws  pertaining  to  the 
general  commerce  of  France;  also  tabulated  statements  from  the  customs  offices  of 
certain  of  the  most  important  departments,  such  as  Bordeau.x,  Cette  and  Marseilles, 
in  detail.  Concerning  the  tariff  on  imported  wines  and  spirits,  however,  I  will  q  ote 
from  letters  furnished  me  by  the  United  States  Vice-Consul  at  Bordeaux  and  the  Con- 
sular Agent  at  Cette,  translating  where  necessary,  as  follows: 

"Consulate  of  the  United  States  of  Amkrica, 
Bordeaux,  Sept.  27th,  1878. 

"My  Dear  Sir:  The  following  is  an  exact  copy  from  a  letter,  just  received  from 
the  Director  of  Customs  at  this  port.  Yours  very  truly, 

"  L.  A.  Price,  U.  S.  Vice-Consul. 

"  Monsieur  le  Consul:  I  have  the  honor  to  indicate  to  you  below,  in  response 
to  your  letter  of  September  20th,  the  taxes  applicable  to  wines  imported  into  France: 

"tarif  general. 

"  Ordinary  wines,  of  European  origin  or  of  extra  European  origin,  imported 
directly  from  the  country  producing  them,  five  francs  per  hectolitre;  or  extra  Euro- 
pean origin,  imported  from  the  entrepots  of  Europe,  .five  francs  per  hect.  plus,  three 
francs  per  100  kilogrammes,  gross  weight. 

"  Vins  de  liqueurs,  of  European  origin  or  extra  European  origin,  imported  di- 
rectly from  the  country  producing  them,  twenty  francs  per  hectolitre;  of  extra  Euro- 
pean origin,  imported  from  the  entrepots  of  Europe,  twenty  francs  per  hect.  plus,  three 
francs  per  100  kilogrammes,  gross  weight. 

"According  to  the  terms  of  the  law  of  December  30th,  1873,  these  taxes  are  also 
increased  4  per  cent. 

"  TARIF   CONVENTIONEL. 

"  Wines  of  all  kinds,  30  centimes  per  hect. 

"  The  wines  of  Spain,  both  ordinary  and  liqueurs.,  follow  a  special  rule,  and  are 
taxed,  all  extraordinary  and  additional  duties  included,  at  the  rate  of  three  francs,  50 
centimes,  per  hectolitre. 

"According  to  the  terms  of  the  law  of  May  8th,  1869,  foreign  wines  imported 
under  the  conditions  of  the  general  tariff,  and  containing  more  than  14  per  cent. 
alcohol,  must  be  subject,  also,  to  the  duty  upon  alcohol  for  the  quaniiiy  of  that  liquid 


79 

exceeding  that  limit.  Foreign  wines  must  pay,  also,  the  same  taxes  of  consumption 
as  the  French  wines  ;  but  the  collection  of  these  last  taxes  is  entrasted  to  the  service 
of  indirect  contributions.'' 

The  following  is  translated  from  a  letter  written,  in  reply  to  my  inquiries,  by 
Mr.  J.  S.  Nahmens,  United  States  Consular  Agent  at  Cette  : 

"  Wines  consumed  in  France  are  considered,  with  respect  to  taxes,  as  ordinary 
wines  when  containing  up  to  15  degrees  of  alcohol. 

"Above  15  degrees,  and  up  to  21,  they  are  subjected  to  a  double  tax  of  con- 
sumption for  each  degree  of  alcohol  in  excess. 

"Above  21  degrees  they  are  considered  as  spirits  and  subjected  to  the  tax  upon 
alcohol  in  accordance  with  their  degree  of  strength.  That  is  to  say,  a  wine  of  22 
degrees,  for  example,  pays  the  tax  upon  22  litres  of  alcohol  for  each  hectolitre  (100 
litres)  of  wine. 

"  For  exportation,  wines  are  fortified  free  of  tax,  whether  with  native  or  foreign 
alcohols,  in  the  bonded  warehouse  {entrepot  de  Douane) 

"  The  alcohols  of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some  time  quite  shut  out  of 
this  place,  their  price  not  being  able  to  support  the  competition  of  the  German 
alcohols. 

' '  However,  no  foreign  alcohols  can  be  used  to  fortify  wines  for  the  interior,  by 
reason  of  the  taxes  of  consumption  which  are  imposed  upon  them  and  raise  them 
above  the  prices  of  native  alcohols. 

"  German  alcohols  pay  a  duty  of  15  francs  per  hectolitre  of  pure  alcohol  ;  the 
American,  as  well  as  those  of  all  other  nations  which  have  no  treaty  of  commerce 
with  France,  pay  30  francs  per  hectolicre." 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that,  respecting  wines,  the  French  have  two  good 
provisions  of  law  which  the  United  States  should  imitate,  viz  :  Increased  tax  for  wines, 
extra  European,  imported  from  some  European  warehouse,  and  the  tariff  of  alcohol 
upon  the  excess  contained  in  wines  above  14  degrees.  We  should  discriminate  in 
favor  of  pure  wines  in  the  same  way,  and  tax  Spanish  wines  coming  from  a  French 
warehouse  at  higher  rates  ;  we  should  also  add  the  alcohol  tax  to  the  villainous  sher- 
ries, ports  and  fortified  mixtures  that  come  from  Cette,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  Havre, 
Hamburg,  etc.  We  have  been  making  laws  to  suit  importers ;  we  should  begin  to 
make  them  to  suit  home  producers  and  consumers.  The  consumer  must  not  be  car- 
ried away  by  all  the  nonsense  about  reducing  duties,  when  it  is  a  question  of  shutting 
out  spurious  wines  and  spirits.  When  I  was  in  Cette,  I  was  told  by  one  of  the  lead- 
ing exporting  houses  that  they  often  fortified  wines  for  the  United  States  up  to  20  per 
cent,  of  alcohol.  This  is  done,  no  doubt,  to  order,  for  the  benefit  of  houses  that  get 
the  cheapest  wines  of  Bordeaux,  and  blend,  water  and  fortify  them  in  New  York  and 
other  large  cities.  The  alcohol  obtained  in  this  way  comes  in  under  the  wine  duty 
of  40  cents  a  gallon,  instead  of  $2  per  proof  gallon. 

The  two  other  important  points  to  notice  are  that  the  payment  of  duties  does 
not  entitle  imported  wines  and  spirits  to  circulate  free  in  France;  hence  all  talk 
about  reducing  the  French  duties  in  our  favor  is  the  purest  bosh,  and  only  intended 
as  an  illusion,  German  alcohols  pay  a  duty  of  15  francs  ;  American  alcohols,  30 
francs.  We  are  supposed  to  be  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  this  respect  ;  but  the  dif- 
ference in  duty  affects  us  very  little,  because,  even  with  the  low  duty  of  fifteen  francs 
per   hectolitre   (26.40  gallons),  the   German  alcohols  do  not  enter  largely  into  con- 


8o 

sumption,  as  I  shall  hereafter  show.  All  the  commercial  authorities  that  I  have  been 
able  to  obtain,  all  the  wine  and  spirit  dealers,  say,  as  Mr.  Nahmens  says,  that  foreign 
spirits  cannot  be  used  in  France  in  competition  with  the  French  alcohols  ;  neverthe- 
less, the  official  statistics  show  that  a  portion  is  entered  for  consumption  and  pays 
duty,  but  in  what  manner  I  have  been  unable  to  learn.  The  statistics  show,  howeven 
that  the  importations  are  principally  for  re-exportation,  the  duties  not  being  paid  ; 
hence  the  difference  in  duty  does  not  materially  affect  the  question  of  the  French 
commerce  in  such  spirits,  as  it  is  at  present,  or  may  be  hereafter. 

The  growing  importation  of  alcohols  is  only  a  nominal  importation,  so  far  as 
French  consumption  is  concerned.  Mr.  Nahmens  says  that  the  reason  why  the  foreign 
articles  cannot  be  used  to  fortify  wines  with,  is  the  increased  cost  by  reason  of  duty; 
.this  would  be  a  good  reason,  if  there  was  not  a  better  one,  viz.:  The  one  contained  in 
the  official  regulations,  which  I  noticed  in  my  last  letter,  prohibiting  the  addition  of 
foreign  spirits  to  French  wines,  except  when  intended  for  exportation.  It  is  very  certain 
that  the  actual  consumption  of  German  and  Belgian  spirits  may  be  accounted  for  to 
some  extent  by  fraudulent  fortification  of  wines  for  the  French  market.  The  increased 
importation,  however,  is  not  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  increase  of  quantities 
consumed  in  the  country;  but  is  followed  by  increased  exportation  of  the  same  arti- 
cles. Hence,  our  trade  with  France  in  this  respect  will  increase  or  decrease,  just  as 
our  distillers  produce  alcohols  cheaper  or  dearer  than  other  countries,  and  will  not  be 
affected  much  by  any  change  in  the  tariff,  unless  the  tax  be  taken  off  altogether,  so 
as  to  let  our  spirits  come  into  the  French  markets  in  fair  competition  with  beet-root 
products. 

I  gave  in  my  last  letter  the  Custom  Plouse  regulation,  which  permits  the  bonded 
warehouses  to  be  used  as  places  for  mixing,  "cutting,''  coloring,  flavoring,  bottling, 
casing,  barreling,  labeling,  etc.,  foreign  spirits,  and  authorizes  re-exportation  free  of 
all  taxes,  provided  only  that  marks  or  labels  indicating  French  origin  are  not  placed 
upon  receptacles.  It  is  for  this  kind  of  use  that  American,  German,  Belgian,  and 
other  alcohols  are  imported,  and  the  nominal  duty  has  very  little  to  do  with  the  trade; 
the  spirits  being  nearly  all  re-exported,  after  paying  tribute  to  French  industry  and 
chemistry. 

While  I  am  on  this  matter  of  importations  of  spirits  I  will  give  the  results  of  my 
inquiries  concerning  the  trade  in  alcohol  from  the  United  States.  I  had  learned  that 
it  was  growing  in  importance;  but  could  find  but  little  trace  of  it  until  I  reached  INIar- 
seillcs.  There  it  is  increasing  largely.  Among  the  questions  which  I  left  there  to 
have  investigated  was  one  relating  to  American  alcohols.  Here  is  the  reply  I  have 
received : 

]\Iarseilles,  October  5,  1878. 

"Dear  Sir,  etc.:  *  *  *  *  As  regards  the  increase  of  imports  of  alcohol 
from  the  United  States,  it  must  be  imputed  solely  to  the  fall  of  the  price  of  that  article 
in  America,  combined  with  a  simultaneous  rise  in  the  north,  which  used  to  supply 
Marseilles  with  it.  Such  alcohols  have  always  been  in  great  demand  here,  as  Mar- 
seilles supplies  nearly  the  whole  IMcditerranean  coast  with  it,  and  chiefly  the  North 
African  coast.  Alcohol  from  the  United  States  is  subjected  to  a  duty  of  thirty  francs 
-per  hectolitre,  over  and  above  the  taxes  imposed  upon  alcohols  and  eaux-de-vie  of 
French  production.  It  has  consequently  to  be  kept  in  bond  here,  until  it  is 
re-exported,  and  cannot  be  applied  to  the  fortification  of  wine?  for  French  consump- 


8i 

tion.  Alcohols  employed  for  the  latter  purpose  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  spirits  distilled 
from  wine,  but  mostly  the  spirits  of  beet  roots  distilled  in  the  North  of  France. 

"During  the  entire  year  1877,  only  8,600  barrels  of  spirits  were  imported  from 
the  United  States,  whereas,  up  to  September  30th  of  this  year,  31,043  barrels  have 
already  been  imported. 

"  I  have  also  found  out,  beyond  doubt,  that  all  of  it  is  exported  again  to  Algeria 
and  the  Barbarian  Coast,  Spain  and  the  East ;  to  the  first  two  named  maikets  in  its 
natural  state,  as  received  ;  to  the  East,  as  eau-de-vie,  diluted  with  water,  etc.,  this 
operation  being  conducted  under  the  careful  eye  of  the  Customs  service,  in  the  Docks 
and  Entrepots,  where  all  American  alcohols  are  kept  in  strict  bond  until  they  are 
re-exported,  or  the  duty  of  thirty  francs  per  hectolitre  paid,  which  is  never  done. 

"  As  I  have  stated  before,  the  remarkable  increase  in  the  importation  of  alcohols 
from  the  United  States,  originates  solely  from  the  low  price  at  which  they  can  be 
obtained  there,  which  is,  for  the  present,  lower  than  that  of  French  beet  root,  or  Ger- 
man potato,  or  grain  spirits,  which  heretofore  supplied  this  market. 

"The  actual  value  of  American  alcohol  here  is  80  francs  per  barrel,  in  bond." 

The  foregoing  price  of  American  alcohols  in  Marseilles,  about  $15  50  per  barrel 
— which,  I  understand,  contains  fifty-five  gallons — is  at  the  rate  of  about  28  cents  per 
gallon.  The  degree  of  strength  I  have  not  learned.  Such  alcohols,  added  to  the 
wines  called  sherry  and  Burgundy  port,  shipped  from  INIarseilles  to  the  United  States, 
pay  only  the  wine  duty  of  40  cents;  hence  the  cost  of  putting  them  in  circulation 
among  our  people  in  such  form  is  only  about  70  cents  per  gallon — 80  cents  at  most. 
The  same  spirits,  if  not  exported  to  France  and  re-imported  in  this  way,  would  have 
to  pay  an  Internal  Revenue  tax  of  90  cents  per  proof  gallon,  and  the  first  cost  of  cir- 
culating them  would  be  about  $1   05. 

Inasmuchas  France  does  not  and  will  not  actually  consume  any  of  these  importa- 
tions from  the  United  States,  and  the  rate  of  duty  does  not  materially  affect  the  trade 
as  it  is,  it  seems  to  me  that  what  the  American  interests  require  is  commercial  treaties 
with  countries  where  France  finds  a  market  for  them,  and  not  with  France. 

I  was  informeil  at  a  distillery  in  Chicago,  last  spring,  that  this  trade  in  American 
alcohols  was  increasing,  but  the  distiller  did  not  know  what  became  of  the  goods  he 
sold.  Purchases  were  made  at  the  distilleries  by  the  agents  of  foreign  houses.  It  is 
fortunate  for  the  consumers  of  the  so-called  French  eaux-de-vie  on  the  IMediterranean 
coast  that  our  corn  spirits,  are  taking  the  place  of  German  potato  spirits,  the  latter 
containing  a  greater  proportion  of  amylic  alcohol  (fusel  oil).  I  see  no  reason  why  the 
United  States  cannot  build  up  a  trade  direct  with  the  cour>tries  supplied  from  France, 
and  so  save  to  the  consumers  the  cost  of  the  French  manipulation. 

The  last  remark  may  also  apply  to  the  supplies  of  eaux-de-vie-autres  furnished  to 
the  United  States  by  France,  made  from  common  German  alcohols,  which  have  to 
pay  two  dollars  per  gallon  duty;  whereas  better  and  cheaper  corn  alcohols  couUl  he 
used  in  the  United  States,  witii  an  Internal  Revenue  tax  of  only  90  cents.  The  vast 
difference  in  cost  is  paid  by  the  consumers  for  the  privilege  of  drinking  foreign  labels. 

Before  giving  statistics  of  the  imports  and  exports  of  France,  I  will  try  to  ex])lain 
some  of  iheir  most  important  features.  These  statistics  are  kept  under  two  heads: 
"  dmunerce  General"  and  "'Commerce  Spkial." 

With  respect  to  importations,  the  columns  of  figures  under  the  head  of  "  Genera! 
Commerce"'  indicate  the  total  amounts  received  within  the  period  for  which  the  statis- 


82 

tics  are  given;  those  under  the  head  of  "Special  Commerce"  indicate  the  quantities  upon 
which  duties  have  been  paid,  or  which  are  called  "  quantities  entered  for  consump- 
tion "  it  being  assumed  that  when  taxes  are  paid  the  articles  are  to  be  consumed  in 
the  country.  It  happens  sometimes  that  the  figures  under  the  last  head  are  larger 
than  under  the  first,  which  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  stock  of  pre- 
ceding years  or  periods,  held  in  bond,  has  been  passed  into  consumption. 

With  respect  to  exportations,  the  figures  under  "General  Commerce"  indicate 
the  whole  amounts  exported,  whether  of  French  or  foreign  origin;  while  under  the 
head  of  "Special  Commerce"  are  the  figures  indicating  rtiarc/umdises  francaises,  ou 
francisks;  this  latter  expression  means  that  the  goods  are  either  of  French  origin,  or, 
if  foreign,  have  been  entered  for  consumption  and  nationalized,  duties  on  them  paid 
(Jrancisks),  or  such  as  have  been  entered  free  of  duty  and  re-exported.  In  the  case  of 
exportation  the  difference  between  the  figures  in  the  two  columns  indicates  the  quan- 
tities, which  are  certainly  of  foreign  origin;  though  not  ahvays  the  full  amount  of  such 
articles,  because  in  some  cases  a  portion  of  them  is  included  under  the  head  of  "Spe- 
cial Commerce,"  as  yVawc/j-^ffj.  In  respect  to  spirits,  the  differences  of  the  figures 
tell' quite  exactly  the  quantity  of  foreign  alcohols  exported,  because,  as  I  have  shown 
such  alcohols  seldom  are  actually  entered  for  consumption,  duty  paid.  In  respect  to 
wines  the  rule  is  somewhat  different.  The  duty  on  wines  being  very  low,  and  in  the 
case  of  Spanish  products  only  three  francs  and  a  half  per  hectolitre — less  than  three 
cents  per  wine  gallon,  the  manufacturer^  of  vins  de  cargaison  and  imitation  wines  pre- 
fer to  pay  the  duty  and  operate  their  coupages,  where  their  methods  may  not  be  under 
the  inspection  of  public  officers.  Hence,  although  Spanish  wines  are  largely  used  in 
the  preparation  of  wines  for  exportation,  nearly  all  the  quantities  exported  appear 
under  the  "  Special  Commerce  "  as  7narchandises francaiscs ,  ou  francisks.  The  figures 
relating  to  importations  of  wines,  show  that  about  seven  eighths  are  entered  for  con- 
sumption in  this  way. 

In  the  official  records  and  reports  of  the  Customs  Service,  distilled  spirits  are 
enumerated  under  the  following  heads,  separately  :  1.  Eau-de-vie  de  vin  (brandy),  in 
wood;  2.  Do.,  in  bottles;  3.  Eau-de-vie  de  cerises  [kxvsch) ;  4.  Eau-de-vie  de  me/asse 
(rum,  tafia,  etc  );  5.  Eaux-de-vie  auttes ;  6.  Esprits-de-toute-sorte.  All  are  estimated 
in  quantity,  according  to  the  contents  of  pure  alcohol  ;  hence,  to  determine  their 
actual  volume  when  sold  for  consumption,  they  must  be  reduced  to  proof  spirits,  about 
doubling  the  quantities  given.  This  must  be  rem.embered  when  attention  is  given  to 
the  statistics  of  spirits. 

All  the  eaux-de-vie  are  so  styled,  in  distinction  from  esprits-de-toute-sorte,  because 
the)  are  already  prepared,  or  in  condition  for  consumption  as  drinks,  while  all  com- 
mon spirits  and  alcohols,  in  their  natural  condition,  are  classed  under  one  head  as 
"spirits  of  all  kinds."  The  eaux-de-vie-autres  include  all  alcholic  beverages  (spirits) 
not  included  in  the  first  four  items,  brandy  in  wood  and  boule,  kirsch  and  rum  ;  in 
other  words,  they  include  all  the  spirituous  drinks,  genuine,  imitated  and  adulterated, 
the  alcohol  of  which  is  admitted  not  to  have  been  distilled  from  wine,  cherries  or 
cane  sugar. 

I  have  studied  the  bearings  of  these- distinctions  of  general  and  special  commerce 
and  the  divisions  of  spirituous  drinks,  in  order  to  learn  from  official  sources  as  much 
as  possible  concerning  the  true  nature  of  the  exports  of  wines  and  spirits  from  France 
to  the  United  States,  in  addition  to  special  investigations  of  the  actual  shipments  niade.. 


83 

Generally,  what  appears  in  the  French  Custom  House  records  as  eaux-de-vk  autres, 
exported  to  the  United  States,  appears  in  the  invoices  of  merchants  simply  as  cognac 
absinthe,  kirsch,  etc.  The  regulation  of  the  Customs  Bureau  here,  which  I  quoted  in 
my  last  letter,  while  it  permits  the  manipulation,  coloring,  packing,  etc.,  of  foreign 
alcohols  in  bond,  does  not  permit  them  to  be  marked  as  of  French  origin  ;  hence 
they  appear  in  French  statistics  of  exportations  as  eaux-de-vie  auires,  while  in  the  com- 
mercial papiTS,  and  after  they  reach  their  destination,  they  are  designated  as  genuine  cog- 
nacs, etc.,  with  impunity.  There  are,  of  course,  no  exports  of  esprits-de-touk-sorte  to 
the  United  States.  Only  the  genuine  or  imitated  eaux-de-vie  are  sent  to  us,  because 
the  common  alcohols  are  cheaper  in  our  country,  and  could  not  be  admitted  without 
paying  the  $2  duty  imposed  upon  all  spirits. 

Three-fourths  of  all  the  rum  and  tafia  (spirits  of  sugar-cane)  imported  into 
France  arc  from  Martinique,  and  about  one-sixth  from  Guadalupe.  Fine  old  rums 
are  largely  in  demand  for  the  manufacture  of  imitation  cognacs  and  the  improve- 
ment of  mixtures  of  new  and  poor  brandies  and  common  alcohols.  At  almost  every 
p'ace  where  I  have  been  entertained  by  wine-dealers  and  merchants  and  cognac  man- 
ufacturers, I  have  been  offered  a  glass  of  very  rare  old  rum.  Small  quantities  of  the 
kit  article  came  from  Jamaica,  generally  via  England.  Hence  it  is  that  I  find,  for 
instance,  in  187G,  13,362  litres  of  rum  shipped  from  France  to  Atlantic  ports  of  the 
United  States,  though  none  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  This  is  the  country  for  rechercJie 
rum;  yet  it  is  chiefly  used  to  flavor  with,  and  only  cheap  articles  and  alcohols  flavored 
with  the  essence  of  rum  circulate  generally  as  rum  among  the  people. 

The  statistics,  fortunately,  are  kept  so  as  to  distinguish  between  exports  to  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Coasts  of  the  United  States;  hence  I  can  ascertain  something 
about  what  we  get  in  California.  IMost  of  the  genuine  brandies  go  to  England,  and 
we  get  some  supplies  from  that  source.  Havre  being  connected  by  steam  service 
with  New  York,  shows  a  largely  increased  trade  with  the  Atlantic  States — wines  from 
Bordeaux,  and  brandies  from  the  Charente,  going  there  for  shipment.  Havre  has 
also  become  a  grand  manufacturing  place  for  vins  de  cargaison.  Bordeaux  being 
connected  by  steam  lines  with  Aspinwall,  the  wines  and  spirits  from  that  section  for 
California  are  shipped  direct,  via  the  Isthmus,  in  larger  quantities  than  from  anv 
other  port. 

The  extraordinary  increase  of  importations  of  wines  into  France  during  the  first 
nine  months  of  this  year  is  a  remarkable  item  to  notice,  being  more  than  double  the 
quantities  imported  during  the  same  period  of  last  year,  and  about  fifty-five  per  cent, 
more  than  either  of  the  entire  years  1877  and  1876.  The  wines  exported,  however, 
during  the  same  period  of  this  year  arc  less  in  (]uantity  than  during  the  same  periods 
in  1877  and  1876.  This  is  another  proof  of  the  failing  supi)lies  in  France  and  the 
increased  home  consumption.  The  importations,  as  I  have  before  shown,  are  [)rin- 
cipally  wines  of  dense  color,  being  demanded  for  the  use  of  the  manufacturers  of 
coupages.  An  increased  exportation  would  necessarily  cause  still  greater  importations, 
1  .rger  business  for  those  who  make  imitations,  and  would  tend  to  still  further  degrade 
the  wines  of  commerce. 

Owing  to  the  increased  demand  and  prices  for  wines,  and  to  the  ravages  of  the 
phylloxera,  the  production  of  spirits  from  wine  (brandies)  has  fallen  very  much 
lower,  and  is  still  rapidly  decreasing.  Nevertheless,  the  exportation  of  so-called 
brandies  is  larger  this  year  than  during  the  same  period  last  year,  though  not  equal  to 


84 

that  of  187G.  The  cxporta'ions  of  eaux  de  vie  and  esprits-de-toutc-sortc  have  also  in- 
creased. Brandies  in  bottles,  the  best  test,  though  not  accurat.%  of  ihe  movement  of 
pure  cognacs,  has  decreased  one-sixih  ;  the  imitations  and  adulterations  are  generally 
sent  out  in  wood  ;  yet  a  large  percentage  of  the  bottled  brandies,  as  I  explained  in 
my  letter  from  Cognac,  contains  common  beet-root  alcohol,  and  only  a  small  portion 
is  pure  brandies  of  the  Cognac  region,  the  major  part  being  either  cheap  and  poor 
brandies  of  the  lower  charente,  flavored  to  imitate  cognacs,  or  entire  fabrications. 

The  importations  of  common  alcohol  have  largely  increased. 

About  three-fourths  of  the  rums  from  Martinique,  Guadaloupe,  etc.,  are  entered 
under  special  commerce  as  having  been  entered  for  consumption.  Of  9,3r)5,073 
litres  of  alcohols  imported  this  year,  only  3,9  ]0,T34  figure  as  having  paid  duty  ;  the 
exportations  during  the  same  time  amount  to  6,949,400  litres. 

This  re-exportation  trade  of  France  in  foreign  eaiix-de-vie  and  alcohols  may  be 
understood  by  a  brief  statement,  as  fo'lows  : 

\xi\?ri^  \hz  eaux-de-vie  autrcs  imported  amounted  to  1,5'20,962  litres  (392,250 
gallons,  valued  at  $300,000,  of  which  only  354,298  litres  were  entered  for  French 
consumption,  valued  at  $70,(t00.  During  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  1,861,- 
807  litres  were  imported,  of  which  880,751  were  entered  for  consumption,  the  aver- 
age value  being  the  same,  or  one  franc  a  litre. 

In  1876  the  quantity  of  the  same  class  of  drinks  exported  was  4,161,209  litres, 
of  which  3,505,429  were  of  Frenc'i  origin,  or  had  paid  duty  in  France.  (Recollect 
that  none  of  these  eaux-de-vie  are  spirits  of  wine  ;  hence  all  9re  either  made  from 
foreign  alcohols  or  French  beet-sugar  spirits.)  Of  this  export,  54,690  litres  went  to 
California,  none  to  the  Atlantic  ports  (unless  included  via  exports  to  Fngland),  and 
were  entirely  of  origins  outside  of  France.  All  such  drinks,  though  nominally  from 
France,  contained  alcohols  from  other  countries.  The  values  are  given  at  about  one 
dollar  per  gallon. 

During  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  the  exportations  of  eaiix-de-vit-autra 
were  2,560,347  litres,  of  which  1,924,171  were  of  French  origin,  or  had  paid  duty. 

Concerning  espfrils-de-iouk-sorte,  or  common  alcohols,  in  187G  the  importation 
was  2,876,000  lires,  of  which  1,350,079  were  entered  for  consump'ion.  Of  this 
quantity  175,526  were  from  the  United  S:ates,  only  24  of  which  were  entered  for  con- 
sumption. During  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  the  importation  of  alcohols  was 
9,355,073  litres,  of  which  3,366,623  were  entered  for  consumption.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  get  the  statement  o(  the  total  quantity  from  the  United  States,  but  some  idea 
of  it  may  be  obtained  from  the  report  from  Marseilles,  which  I  have  given  above, 
which  shows  that  the  trade  in  our  alcohols  must  have  increased  to  about  three  million 
litres  (pure  alcohol)  during  nine  months. 

From  a  comparison  of  the  facts  in  the  last  paragraph,  it  will  be  seen  that  while 
the  importation  has  been  va.stly  increased,  the  consumption  has  not  been  so  in  any 
important  degree. 

Concerning  exportations  of  alcohols:  In  1876  there  were  6,131,000  litres  ex- 
ported, of  which  4,337,600  were  of  French  origin,  or  duty  paid.  The  principal  mar- 
kets were  Spain,  Italy,  Turkey,  S\;itzerland,  West  Coast  of  Africa.  Algeria  and  Bel- 
gium. During  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  the  exportation  was  6,949,000  litres, 
of  which  only  1,229,200  were  of  French  origin.  Only  Italy,  Switzerland  and  Algeria, 
as  markets,  are  specified  in  the  reports  so  far,  the  major  portion,  being  undistributed 
in  the  statistics  to  be  had. 


85 

These  figures  show  that  France  is  building  up  a  large  trade  as  intermediate 
agent  between  foreign  countries.  It  also  shows  that  the  interest  of  our  producers  is 
in  seeking  direct  commercial  relations  with  the  countries  supplied  by  France,  for  we 
are  still  behind  Germany  in  the  business.  It  is  a  question  of  competition  with  Ger- 
many in  the  consuming  markets,  rather  than  a  question  of  trade  with  France. 

Germany  has  also  taken  the  lead  in  the  trade  in  eaux-de-vie-autres.  Of  the 
1,520,962  litres  imported  by  France  in  1870,  only  389,082  w^re  from  Germany; 
347,919  were  from  Holland;  347,143  from  Austria;  190, 137  from  Italy;  the  remain- 
der divided  principally  between  Belgium,  England,  Spain  and  Switzerland.  How- 
ever, during  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  of  the  1,861,807  litres  imported, 
1,110,306  were  from  Germany  The  records  show  that  Germany  is  rapidly  increasing 
her  foreign  trade  in  her  products  of  fabricated  spirits,  wines  and  liqueurs. 

THE    COMMERCE    IX    HRANDIES. 

The  statistics  of  exportations  of  eau-de-vie  de  vin  (brandy)  show  a  remarkable 
decrease,  as  must  necessarily  be,  by  reason  of  the  failing  production.  In  foreign 
markets,  however,  this  decrease  is  made  up  from  the  eaux-de-vie-aulres ,  much  of  which 
passes  for  brandies,  having  been  colored,  flavored  etc.,  to  suit.  The  foreign  trade 
in  brandies  cannot  evidently  be  increased,  without  increasing  the  trade  in  the  latter 
kind,  which  can  as  easily  be  made,  if  permitted,  in  the  markets  of  consumption,  with 
a  saving  of  the  excess  of  the  cost  of  duty  over  internal  revenue,  to  the  consumer. 
The  ])roposition  of  the  French  treaty  agitators  is  to  reduce  the  duty  on  spirits  to  one 
dollar  per  proof  gallon — only  ten  cents  more  than  the  internal  revenue  tax.  The  only 
object  of  this  is  to  increase  the  exportation  to  us  of  imitated  cognacs,  kirsch,  gin, 
absinthe,  etc.,  fabricated  with  cheap  beet  root,  German  or  American  spirits.  To 
encourage  such  an  industry  would  be  manifestly,  neither  in  the  interest  of  public 
health,  nor  of  our  own  people,  who  can  as  well  use  the  same  materials  and  pioduce 
the  same  results,  if  it  is  to  be  permitted.  That  such  things  are  done  in  the  United 
States,  I  do  not  doubt;  but  it  is  fortunate  that  our  tariff  does  not  encourage  a  great 
increase  of  the  business. 

The  following  are  figures  of  the  exports  of  brandies,  England  and  the  United 
States  being  specified,  because  it  is  through  England  that  we  get  a  portion  of  our 
supply.  The  first  nine  months  of  1878  are  compared  with  the  entire  years  1876 
and  1877  : 

1st BRANDY  IN  WOOD  ESTIMATED  IN  HECTOLITRES  OF  PURE  ALCOHOL. 

Nine  mos.  of 

1878.  1877.  1876. 

United  States 3,345  4,05S  9,023 

England 64,151  82,050  234,505 

All  countries 120,097  154,305  330,486 

2d BRANDY    IN    BOTTLES — HECTOLITRES  OF  PURE    ALCOHOL. 

Nino  mos.  of 

1878.  1877.  1S7  i. 

United  States 1,128  1,648  2  474 

England 23,407  48,372  57,167 

All  countries 59,417  78,300  86,800 

The  hectolitre  of  pure  alcohol  would  be  equal  to  about  260  bottles  of  brandy 
of  commercial  strength. 


86 

In  1876,  8,095  hectolitres,  in  wood,  and  2,474  in  bottles,  were  exported  to  the 
Atlantic  ports  of  the  United  States;  928  in  wood  are  credited  to  the  Pacific  Coast, 
but  none  in  bottles. 

I  gave  the  exports  of  eaux-de-vie-aulres  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  187G,  as  54,G90 
litres,  equal  to  about  125,000  bottles. 

KIRSCH. 

The  total  amount  of  kirsch-wasser  credited  in  the  official  statistics  as  exported  to 
the  United  States  in  1876,  was  3,090  litres— all  to  the  Atlantic  Coast.  The  most  of 
the  kirsch  in  the  market  is  the  imitated  stuff — made  from  common  alcohols  and  fla- 
voring extracts — one  of  the  eaux-de-vie-aiitres. 

The  average  valuation  in  the  customs  records  of  exported  brandies  is  about  $1  75 
per  gallon,  while  that  of  the  eaux-de-vie-autres  is  only  about  $1. 

WINES  IMPORTED  INTO  FRANCE. 

The  following  figures  show  how  the  importations  of  wines  into  France  are  in- 
creasing. The  amounts  are  expressed  in  litres,  and  the  first  nine  months  of  1878 
are  compared  with  the  same  period  of  1877  : 

ORDINARY    WINE,    IN    WOOD  : 

Nino  mos.  of  Nino  mos.  of 

1878.  1877. 

Spain 87,842,885  26,341,845 

Italy 16,112,028  11,499,376 

Other  countries 3,520,250  9,425,482 

Total  Litres 107,475,163  47,266,703 

WINES    EXPORTED. 

In  this  letter  I  shall  only  give  a  few  of  the  gross  figures  concerning  the  exports 
of  wines  from  France,  because  I  shall  give  more  details  when  I  make  an  analysis  of 
the  kinds  sent  from  different  ports  to  the  United  States.  These  figures  are  taken  from 
the  statistics  of  the  Customs  Service  of  France,  and  vary  somewhat  from  the  records 
of  our  Custom  Houses.  The  reason  of  the  difference  is  that  the  French  government 
records,  when  wines  and  spirits  are  released  from  taxation  for  exportation,  the  desti- 
nation given  by  the  merchant.  Some  of  the  goods  said  to  be  destined  for  the  United 
States  are  supplies  for  ships ;  and  it  is  possible  that  there  are  some  frauds  committed 
against  the  French  Revenue  laws.  The  French  statistics,  for  instance  at  Marseilles, 
show  la'-ger  exports  to  the  United  States  than  do  the  records  of  the  United  States  Con- 
sul's office. 

I  will  compare  statistics  of  the  years  1876-1877,  and  the  first  nine  months  of 
1878.  The  wines,  it  will  be  observed,  are  divided  into  six  classes.  Wines  from  the 
Gironde  are  all  supposed  to  be  wines  produced  in  the  Bordeaux  district ;  but  it  is 
evidently  impossible  for  the  government  to  have  accurate  figures  concerning  the  wines 
of  any  particular  district  exported,  because  there  are  so  many  mixtures.  The  items 
of  Gironde  wines  may  be  accepted  as  indicating  those  exported  nominally  as  Bordeaux 
wine,  but  with  a  larg^e  marg^in  for  doubt  as  to  their  entire  genuineness. 


87 

1st — WINES  OF  GIRON'DE,  IN  WOOD — liSTIMATEU  IN  HECTOLITRES. 

Nino  mo?,  of 

1878.  1877.  1876. 

To  the  United  States 31,796  47,03G  52,599 

To  all  countries 887,389  1,126,017  1,163,569 

2d — WINES    OF    OTHER    PLACES,    IN    WOOD,    ETC. 

United  States 15,366  31,602  30,125 

All  countries 1,156,128  1,683,755  1,887,733 

3d WINES    OF    THE    GIRONDE,    IN    BOTTLES  (HECTOLITRES): 

United  States 3,488  5,472  7,994 

All  countries 80,608  111,757  101,084 

4th WINES    OF    OTHER    PLACES,    IN    BOTTLES    (hECTOLITRES): 

United  States 8,492  14,595  16,229 

Aircountries 135,836  126,737  104,588 

5th VINS    DE    LIQUEURS,    IN    WOOD    OR    SKINS. 

United  States 261  1,906  4,460 

All  countries 30,645  42,943  50,823 

6th VINS    DE    LIQUEURS,    IN    BOTTLES    (hECTOLITREs)  : 

United  Slates 643  2,441  2,260 

All  countries 40,513  115,172  122,437 

Taking  the  year  1877  as  an  example,  we  find  that  France  exported  : 

Bordeaux  wine,  in  wood 1,126,017 

Bordeaux  wine,  in  bottle 111,757—  1,237,774 

Wine  from  other  districts,  in  wood 7,683,755 

Wine  from  other  districts,  in  bottle 126,737—  1,810,492 

Liqueur  wines,  in  wood,  etc 42,944 

Liqueur  wines,  in  bottle  115,172 —      158,115 


Total  (hectolitres) 3,206,381 

Total  American  gallons 84,646,863 

Of  this  quantity  the  export  to  the  United  States  was  : 

Bordeaux  wine,  in  wood 47 ,036 

Bordeaux  wine,  in  bottle 5,472 —        52,508 

Wine  from  elsewhere,  in  wood 31,602 

Wine  from  elsewhere,  in  bottle  14,595 —        46,197 

Liqueur  wines,  in  wod 4,460 

Liqueur  wines,  in  bottle 2,260 —          6,720 


Total  (hectolitres) 105,425 

Total  American  gallons 2,786,000 

Of  the  Bordeaux  wines  imported,  the  United  Slates  is  only  credited  wilh  about 
one  twenty-fifth  part.  Of  the  wines  received  from  France  only  one-half  were  even 
nominally  Bordeaux  wines,  except  as  claimed  in  the  invoices.  Only  about  1,300,- 
000  gallons,  out  of  an  importation  of  wines  from  all  countries  into  the  United  States 
of  about  4,500,000  gallons,  were  registered  in  the  French  Custoni  Houses  as  Bor- 
deaux wines. 

One  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  four  hundred  gallons  of  the  so-called  ports, 
sherries,  malagas,  madeiras,  etc.,  in  the  United  States,  came  from  France  as  vins  dt 
liqueur;  how  much  more  came  from  Germany  I  cannot  tell,  but,  undoubtedly,  a 
great  deal. 


S8 

I  cannot  think  that  the  average  American  wine-drinker,  who  "never  drinks  any- 
thing but  fine  French  Bordeaux  wine,  finest  sherries,"  etc.,  can  find  much  comfort  in 
these  statistics,  even  supposing  that  all  the  Bordeaux  wines  itemized  above  were  fine 
wines.  I  will  in  my  next  letter  show  what  the  wines  really  are,  in  more  detail,  and 
something  about  their  values. 

Not  one-quarter  of  the  so-called  Bordeaux  wines  shipped  to  the  United  States 
are  simple  fair  products  of  the  Gironde.  In  my  last  letter  I  explained  how  wines  are 
mixed  up. 

One  million  three  hundred  thousand  gallons  of  Bordeaux  wine!  If  we  were  to 
accept  even  that  statement,  let  us  compare  it  with  the  actual  wine  consumption  of  the 
United  States  in  one  year.  '  Besides  all  the  other  cheap  wines  from  France  and  else- 
where, there  are  consumed  in  the  United  States  from  10,000,000  to  12,000,000  gal- 
lons of  native  wines.  Under  these  circumstances  it  would  seem  as  if  the  American 
connoisseur  should  consider  the  opportunities  for  finding  a  boltle  of  Bordeaux  quite 
rare,  immensely  more  so  for  finding  a  bottle  of  fine  high-classed  wine,  such  as  Cha- 
teau Larose  or  Margaux,  for  such  wines  are  exported  from  France  in  bottle,  and  only 
one-fourih  of  the  Bordeaux  wine  comes  to  our  shores  in  bottle,  according  to  the 
above  statement;  and,  as  I  shall  show,  not  one-fourth  of  that  in  bottle  is  "fine"  wine. 

The  moral  of  this  is  that  our  people  drink  vin  ordinmre,  and  are  swindled  into 
paying  high  prices  for  fancy  labels  and  a  few  drops  of  flavoring  and  coloring  extracts. 
When  they  demand  only  vin  ordinaire  for  ordinary  occasions,  whether  of  French  or 
American  vineyards,  thev  will  begin  to  get  wines  in  their  simple  condition,  free  from 
adulterations,  and  will  begin  to  learn  to  prefer  the  taste  of  a  pure  native  wine  to  a 
compound  of  wines,  chemicals,  water  and  alcohol.  C.  A.  W. 


St.  Julien  and  Margaux  Wines;  Small  Production  to  Satisfy 
the  World  ;  the  Impossibility  of  Furnishing  Genuine 
Wines  to  all  Restaurants  and  Hotels  Demonstrated. 

Bordeaux,  October  16,  1878.—  *         *  ''         *         =i:  *  * 


« 


ST.    JULIEN    AND    MARGAUX. 

There  are  no  fences  and  few  hedges  in  this  district  ;  it  is  one  grand  vineyard. 
The  separating  lines  are  only  known  by  signs  familiar  to  the  owners  and  those 
acquainted  with  the  country.  All  that  separates  the  Commune  of  Pauillac  from  that 
of  St.  Julien  is  a  little  water-course  in  a  slight  depression  running  from  west  to  east 
into  the  Gironde. 

St.  Julien,  adjoining  Pauillac  on  the  south,  is  really  a  part  of  the  .same  distinctive 
vine-land,  and  develops  similar  characteristics  in  the  wine.  It  is  celebrated  by  six 
second  cms,  which  almost  rival  Chateau  Lafitte,  Ch.  Leoville-Lascazes,  Ch.  Leoville- 
Poyfere,  Ch.  Leoville-Barton,  Ch.  Gruau-Larose-Sarget,  Ch,  Gruau-Larose  and  Beau- 
caillou  ;  two  third  cms,  Chateau  Lagrange  and  Ch.  Langoa  ;  five  fourth  cms,  Ch. 
Branaire-du-Luc,  Ch.  Saint-Pierre  (Dubarry),  Ch.  Saint- Pierre  (Luetkens),  Ch.  D'aux 
Talbot  and  Ch.  Beycheville  ;  four  superior  bourgeois,  twenty-eight  artisans  and/cw^wj 
and  fifteen  ^vs\2\\  pavsans.  It  produces  300,000  gallons  of  "fine"  wine  (classed), 
1G,800  gallons  superior  bourgeois  ■^iX^di  108,000  gallons  of  ordinary  wine. 


89 

From  this  statement  can  be  gleaned  an  idea  of  the  impossibility  of  furnishing 
genuine  St.  Julien  (viyi  ordinaire)  to  all  the  restaurants  and  hotels  in  the  world. 
Even  the  vin  ordinaire  is  rechercJie  in  all  markets.  But  what's  is  a  name,  except  profit 
to  the  retailer.'' 

We  breakfasted  at  Chateau  Leoville-Barton,  where  the  vintage  of  both  that  vine- 
yard and  the  adjoining  Chateau  Langoa  is  conducted  under  one  management,  the 
proprietor  of  both  being  Mr.  Barton.  Leoville-Barton  produces  19,200  gallons,  and 
Langoa,  33,600.  The  average  production  of  wine  in  the  ]\I6doc,  in  good  years,  is 
about  200  gallons  per  acre,  for  good  vineyards.  Vines  are  planted  one  to  each  square 
metre,  or  2,000  to  the  acre.  The  vines  are  renewed  one  fiftieth  part  each  year,  to 
preserve  vitality,  and  to  avoid  sudden  changes  by  substituting  all  new  for  all  old  vines. 
Workmen  and  women  are  paid  from  20  to  40  cents  a  day,  and  found.  For  the  use 
of  the  workmen  -i.  piquet te  is  made  by  adding  water  and  sometimes  a  little  sugar  to  the 
marc  after  being  pressed,  and  fermenting  it.  It  is  a  light  acid  drink,  containing  less 
alcohol  than  ordinary  cider. 

The  cost  of  culture  of  a  bourgeois  superieur  in  the  Commune  of  Margaux, 
estimated  in  detail,  is  $100  per  acre.     The  product  is  estimated  as  follows  : 

200  gallons  of  wine — price  (sold  at  vineyard,  deliverable  six  months  after 

vintage),  average  of  875  francs  per  tonneau — 73  cents  per  gallon    . . .  .$146  00 

Seven  per  cent  discount  and  brokerage $10  22 

Four  per  cent,  consumption  in  six  months 5  84 

16  06 

$130  94 
Deduct  expenses  of  cuhure,  etc 100  00 

Net  revenue  per  acre §30  94 

The  expenses  here  are,  however,  larger  in  respect  to  cost  of  manures  and  labor 
of  raising  the  vines  than  in  California,  but  less  in  respect  to  per  diem  charge  for 
workers. 

I  have  statistics  in  detail,  showing  cost  of  working  vineyards  in  all  the  different 
sections  of  the  Gironde,  but  they  are  too  voluminous  to  print.  The  profit  in  the  Palus, 
where  the  wine  is  inferior,  but  more  abundant,  on  account  of  richer  soil,  is  $38  per 
acre,  though  the  wine  sells  for  less  than  half  the  price  of  the  bourgeois  of  Margaux. 
The  great  profit  to  the  vineyardist  is  not  in  finding  a  place  to  make  a  grand  wine, 
but  in  producing  good,  sound,  marketable,  cheap  wine  in  abundance. 

The  slopes  of  this  country,  in  outline,  are  much  like  those  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Mission  San  Jose  in  California. 

Pauillac  wine  is  a  little  stronger  than  St.  Julien,  and  has  more  body.  The  soil 
of  the  former  Commune  is  considered  richer  in  loam,  though  the  difference  is  slight 
— all  quartz  gravel  and  sandy  loam. 

Our  parly  started  on  the  train  for  Bordeaux  about  4  o'clock.  I  left  them  at  the 
Margaux  station,  took  a  carriage,  saw  the  vintage  at  Chateau  Margaux  and  Malescot 
and  returned  to  Bordeaux  late  in  the  evening. 

Margaux  is  a  small  commune,  but  very  celebrated.  It  contains  one  firsl  crus, 
Chateau  Margaux  ;  four  secofid  crus,  five  ihird  crus,  one  fourth,  and  seven  bourgeois 
superieur,  eighteen  ar//ja«j  and  pay  sans  and  ten  very  small  p.iysayts.  It  produces  144,- 
400  gallons  of  "fine"   wine   (classed),   48,000   gallons  o[  bourgeois  superieur,   and 


go 

36,000  gallons  of  -vw  ordbtair  .  Tlic  wine  is  very  fine,  with  a  delicious  bouquet ; 
but  it  is  not  from  INIargaux  that  we  can  get  enough  to  supply  the  world. 

At  Chatcau-Margaux  and  Leoville-Barton,  the  grapes  are  crushed  as  well  as 
freed  from  stems.  Men  with  bare  feet  dance  on  the  fruit  to  the  tune  of  a  fiddle. 
The  fiddle  makes  them  work  faster.  In  other  respects  the  vintage  is  as  I  have 
described  elsewhere. 

I  have  described  the  three  principal  communes  of  the  Medoc  ;  to  do  more 
would  occupy  too  much  space.  To-morrow  I  will  send  an  account  of  the  Graves, 
Vins  Blancs  and  other  points  of  interest.  C.  A.  W. 


Wines  Exported  to  the  United  States ;  Invoices  Analyzed  ; 
What  Americans  get  to  drink  from  France. 

Paris,  November  14lh,  1878. — Before  I  enter  upon  the  consideration  of  the  gen- 
eral and  particular  characteristics  of  the  commerce  in  wines  and  spirits  between  the 
United  States  and  France,  I  must  make  a  few  remarks  concerning  one  portion  of 
that  commerce  which  I  have  in  a  great  measure  ignored,  viz:  the  commerce  in  cham- 
pagne or  effervescing  wines.  Such  wines  form  an  important  element  in  the  foreign 
commerce  of  France,  but  must  be  considered  separately.  When  I  refer  to  wine 
drinking  generally,  I  mean  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  use  of  still  wines,  the 
wines  of  ordinary  consumption.  Concerning  champagnes,  I  am  quite  certain  that 
more  is  known  about  them  outside  of  France  than  in  France.  1  hey  are  not  favor- 
ites with  the  French  people,  but  are  prepared  especially  for  exportation.  Those 
samples,  which  I  have  tasted  several  times  in  different  parts  of  this  country,  have  been, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  miserable  concoctions,  worse  than  the  worst  imitations  that  I 
ever  tasted  in  the  United  States.  The  best  champagnes  are  exported;  and  much,  also, 
that  is  poor  stuff.     I  will  write  concerning  these  at  another  time. 

I  conceived  the  idea,  before  coming  to  France,  that  it  would  be  exceedingly 
interesting  lo  our  people  to  know  what  the  wines  of  France  actually  are,  before  being 
exported  to  the  United  States,  and  before  they  are  worked  over,  bottled,  labeled,  and 
retailed  for  our  consumption.  I  therefore  explained  my  object  to  the  United  States 
Minister  here,  who  thereupon  gave  me  a  circular  letter  to  Consular  officers.  General 
Torbert,  who  was  United  States  Consul-General  when  I  arrived  here,  had  promised 
me  the  same  courtesy,  but  at  the  time  when  I  was  ready  to  leave  Paris  he  had  been 
displaced,  and  I  failed  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  his  suscessor,  Governor  Fairchild, 
until  my  return  from  the  South. 

For  the  information  which  I  have  obtained,  I  am  indebted  principally  to  the 
facilities  extended  to  me  by  Mr.  Frank  W.  Potter,  Consul  at  Marseilles,  Mr.  L.  S. 
Nahmens,  Consular  Agent  at  Cette,  and  IMr.  L.  A.  Price,  Vice-Consul  at  Bordeaux. 
Through  other  sources  I  have  obtained  some  information  concerning  the  trade  from 
other  ports.  The  wine  trade  directly  known  to  the  Consul-General's  office  in  Paris  is 
very  small  and  unimportant. 

The  American  people  are  becoming  aroused  by  the  necessity  of  exporting  the 
surplus  of  their  products,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our  country,  there  is 
a  general  activity  all  along  the  line  of  mercantile  pursuits,  which  is  alarming  the 
great  commercial  nations  of  Europe.     It  is  this  wonderful  change — the  United  States 


91 

be;:oming  a  rival  in  manufactured  as  well  as  raw  material— that  has  stimulated  certain 
French  combinations  to  organize  and  try  to  beat  us  back  into  the  colonial  condition. 
Our  merchanls,  formerly  occupying  themselves  so  much  as  importers,  are  finding 
that  the  field  for  them  is  as  exporters.  But  to  succeed  in  this  field  needs  more  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  commerce  and  trade  of  other  countries,  and  established 
agencies  in  the  countries  to  be  supplied.  In  a  few  years  the  United  States  is  certain 
to  become  the  leading  commercial  country  of  the  world.  This  may  sound  extrav- 
agant to  our  people,  who,  with  all  their  spread-eagleism,  are  still,  in  fact,  the  least 
conceited  and  the  most  provincial  in  feeling  of  all  great  countries;  but  it  is  true,  and 
is  indeed  to-diy  the  greatest  topic  of  interest  among  commercial  people  of  England 
and  France,  who  are  to  be  our  competitors  in  the  trade  which  is  springing  up  from 
our  shores.  Bankers,  who  have  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  movements  of  money, 
predict  for  us  a  marvelous  prosperity  during  the  next  generation.  Money,  bonds, 
and  securities  are  flowing  back  to  us — the  same  funds  that  we  have  heretofore  sent 
abroad  to  balance  our  accounts. 

The  people  have  only  now  to  realize  this  new  condition  of  affairs,  and  to  stand 
firm  to  each  other  and  the  interests  of  the  whole  people,  and  in  a  few  years  they  will 
witness  a  greater  revival  of  business  than  we  have  ever  seen.  We  need  to  begin 
now  with  an  energetic,  well  sustained  foreign  commercial  policy.  We  need  to  or- 
ganize a  vast  machine,  in  the  aid  of  American  industries,  out  of  our  consular  service. 
The  industries  of  America  should  denounce  any  attempt  to  weaken  this  great 
agency,  and  every  American  sent  out  to  do  duty  in  foreign  places,  should  be  con- 
sidered and  supported  as  an  agent  for  the  enlargement  of  American  exports.  We 
need  Amerxms  to  work  for  America,  and  not  to  flatter  the  usual  army  of  travelers 
who  work  only  for  foreign  interests,  encouraging  the  notion  that  foreign  products  are 
better  than  our  own.  We  need  to  encourage  our  own  industries,  instead  of  forcing 
American  silks,  cloths,  and  wines  to  be  sold,  as  they  now  are,  under  foreign  labels, 
to  suit  Americans,  who  talk  about  hard  times  and  no  business,  and  yet  lend  all  their 
aid  to  support  foreign  markets. 

Americans  need  a  little  of  the  French  conceit  to  make  their  own  goods  fashiona- 
ble. The  French  refuse  everything  that  is  not  French,  except  raw  materials,  and  a 
few  articles  which  the\-  do  not  produce  and  must  have.  The  French  refuse  to  learn 
foreign  languages,  and  refuse  to  cook  a  meal  in  foreign  style.  Hence,  all  the  world 
studies  French,  and,  in  Paris,  must  eat  French  dishes  and  use  French  goods;  and 
French  industries,  being  encouraged  b}-  French  people  and  forced  upon  all  who  visit 
France,  have  no  need  to  hide  their  lights  under  foreign  bushels,  but  come  out  and  vie 
with  each  other  for  perfection.  Paris  is  cosmopolitan  in  only  one  respect,  and  that  is 
in  its  population;  but  in  taste  and  habit,  speech,  food,  diet,  and  dress,  it  is  intensely 
French.  In  this  great  city,  supported  almost  entirely  by  foreigners,  one  cannot  find 
an  American,  English,  German,  Italian,  or  Spanish  restaurant,  notwithstanding  the 
names,  Cafe  Americain,  Cafe  Anglais,  etc.  It  is  this  protection  of  French  industries, 
protected  by  French  pride,  that  improves  and  maintains  them,  and  makes  them 
fashionable.  The  French  Government  bestows  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  , of 
Honor  upon  Americans,  assuming  that  it  will  be  considered  a  great  honor;  and  now 
it  has  become  fashionable  to  scramble  for  such  marks  of  approval. 

When  the  United  States  assumes  the  position,  even  modestly,  that  France  insists 
upon,  Americans  will  be  proud  of  American  distinctions  and  of  American  industriehi. 


02 

Now  we  have  nothing  that  we  think  is  good  until  it  bears  a  foreign  label,  or  has  first 
been  approved  in  Europe,  and  especially  France,  where  they  know  enough  not  to  ap- 
prove  much   that  is  likely  to  become  a  rival  to  anything  that  the  French  produce. 

How  many  American  ladies  are  there  who  realize  that  they  are  really 
the  greatest  allies  of  the  foreign  trade  against  our  own  working  people  ?  To- 
day, the  trouble  with  the  French  manufacturers  of  silk  is  that  American  silks 
are  being  made  so  fine  that  they  deceive  the  jobbers  themselves  and  are  sold 
under  French  marks.  The  American  women  buy  American  silks  under  French 
marks  and  the  men  buy  native  wines  under  foreign  labels.  A  manufacturing 
house  in  New  England  declined  to  exhibit  silks  at  the  Exposition,  because  its  pro- 
ducts were  only  sold  through  one  agency  and  were  only  known  on  the  market  as 
French  goods.  The  pride  and  proper  emulation  of  our  workmen  are  crushed  by  a 
lack  of  true  patriotism  and  common  sense  among  the  consumers  of  their  produce. 

We  need  to  stop  cheating  each  other,  to  pull  together  and  stand  up  with  an 
honest  pride  in  ourselves  and  our  own  efforts,  which  we  exhibit  only  on  the  Fourth 
of  July.  The  way  in  which  the  trade  feels  obliged  to  cheat  the  public,  in  order  to 
sell  home-made  goods,  makes  me  think  of  a  remark  made  years  ago  in  Oakland  by 
an  angry  German,  who  had  suffered  from  some  trickery;  he  said  :  "These  d — d  steenk- 
ing  Yankeesh!  dey  g^es  about  all  day  sheeting  von  oders,  and  ven  dey  cooms  home 
at  night,  dey  calls  dat  peesness  ! ''  Well,  all  this  proceeds  on  the  popular  notion  that 
the  public  is  an  ass,  and  likes  to  be  fooled.  Isn't  it  time  that  we  should  change 
a  little  and  begin  to  be  Americans  ? 

Is  it  not  lime  that  we  should  cease  to  extol  wines  which  the  French  govern- 
ment will  not  permit  to  be  consumed  at  home  ?  Is  it  not  time  that  American  indus- 
tries should  be  enfranchised  and  granted  the  liberties  of  nationality .''  An  American 
workman  enjoys  the  glorious  privilege  of  personal  liberty  in  a  country  where  his 
handiwork  is  outlawed  by  ignorant  provincialism,  and  absorbed  by  the  representatives 
of  nominal  foreign  trade. 

But,  to  resume  my  practical  suggestion,  our  merchants,  who  now  are  beginning  to 
feel  all  over  the  globe  for  new  markets,  should  urge,  in  every  way,  generous  support  for 
the  Consular  service,  and  should  inspire  all  officers  with  courage  to  work  for  American 
interests.  Now  it  is  only  too  true  that  our  officers  are  timid  and  more  or  less  brow- 
beaten by  the  average  American  sentiment.  The  men  are  good  enough  ;  they  need 
support  and  inspiration  from  their  country.  The  average  Consul  to-day  is  afraid  to 
offend  importers,  and  has  little  confidence  in  any  appreciation  of  any  good  work  he 
may  try  to  do  for  American  workmen. 

AN    OFFICIAL    REPORT    FROM.  LYONS. 

I  neglected  in  my  recent  letter  concerning  the  general  indications  of  frauds  in 
wines  to  quote  from  the  report  of  Mr.  P.  J.  Asterhaus,  U.  S.  Consul  at  Lyons,  made 
to  the  State  Department,  October  31st,  1876,  and  published  in  the  volume  of  "Com- 
mercial Relations  "  for  that  year.     I  find  in  the  report  the  following  passage  : 

"  The  French  Ministry  in  response  to  calls  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  has  or- 
dered the  police  to  give  its  attention  to  the  alleged  coloring  of  wines  by  artificial 
means,  and  to  subject  all  wine  depots  of  merchants,  dealers,  hotels,  restaurants,  etc., 
to  the  most  searching  control,  and  to  hand  over  all  falsifiers  to  the  Courts.  The  pro- 
tection of  the  public  health,  as  well  as  the  true  interests  of  the  trade,  justify  the  rig- 
orous instructions  of  the  Minister,  and  undoubtedly  they  will  have  a  salutary  effect, 


93 

so  far  as  France  is  concerned.  Kquall}'  strict  control  on  the  part  of  importing  na- 
tions, as  to  the  pureness  and  genuiness  of  the  imported  articles,  is  not  superfluous." 

The  report  of  the  Consul  at  Bordeaux  in  1874  called  attention  to  the  supposed 
frauds  of  merchants  in  undervaluing  their  consignments.  It  was  during  the  opera- 
tion of  the  ad  valorem  tariff  on  wines,  when  it  was  supposed  that  the  wine  sent  to  the 
United  States  was  undervalued  in  order  to  evade  the  increased  tax  on  wines  worth 
more  than  40  cents  a  gallon  at  the  point  of  shipment.  These  supposed  frauds  tended 
very  much  to  cause  the  change  in  the  tariff,  which  is  now  specific,  the  tax  being  forty 
cents  per  gallon,  regardless  of  value.  The  Consuls  were  frequently  surprised  at  what 
seemed  to  be  gross  frauds — wines,  marked  with  fancy  labels,  were  sworn  to  be  ex- 
traordinarily cheap,  etc.  There  was  an  instance  once  of  a  seizure  of  a  lot  of  wines 
sent  to  California,  invoiced  at  a  cost  so  low  that  fraud  was  suspected.  The  shipper 
cleared  himself  by  swearing  and  proving  that  the  wines  actually  cost  him  only  two 
cents  a  bottle,  besides  bottling  expenses. 

Under  the  present  laws,  there  is  no  inducement  to  under\'alue  wines  in  the  in- 
voices. The  interest  of  the  shipper  is  in  overvaluing  them,  if  he  cares  to  have  them 
sold  at  a  good  price.  Hence,  the  prices  in  the  invoices  now  undoubtedly  include  all 
the  valuation  that  the  shipper  can  honestly  put  upon  the  goods  shipped — cost  price 
and  his  own  profit.  There  is,  therefore,  no  danger  of  doing  any  injustice  to  the  val- 
ues of  the  wines  now  shipped  to  the  United  States  by  quoting  the  prices  from  the 
invoices. 

All  that  the  reader  needs  to  remember  is  that  the  additional  cost  in  the  United 
States  ports  is  the  duty  of  forty  cents  a  gallon  for  wine,  in  wood  ;  one  dollar  and  sixty 
cents  per  case  of  twelve  ordinary,  or  twenty-four  half  botdes,  and  two  dollars  per  gal- 
lon for  proof  spirits;  to  which  cost  of  entry  must  be  added  the  simple  cost  of  trans- 
portation, landing  charges  in  the  United  States,  and,  if  sold  by  commission  houses, 
the  ordinary  commission  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent.  Of  course,  other  commissions 
and  charges  of  moving  the  goods  intervene  between  the  first  cost  in  American  ports 
and  the  retail  dealers,  but  this  seldom  adds  more  than  ten  per  cent.,  excepting  when 
dealers  in  the  countiT  are  .supplied  by  jobbers. 

The  invoices  to-day  show  that  there  was  less  reason  to  suspect  fraud  before  the 
law  was  changed  than  was  supposed.  The  fact  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  that  most  of 
the  wines  shipped  were  actually  very  cheap  articles,  disguised  under  false  brands. 
The  prices  are  a  little  higher  now,  for  two  reasons  :  The  shipper  includes  generally 
his  reasonable  charge  for  profit,  and  the  average  prices  of  the  raw  materials,  out  of 
which  the  common  wines  for  the  foreign  trade  are  manufactured,  have  risen.  But 
the  study  of  invoice  prices  to-day,  as  compared  with  labels  and  the  true  market  prices 
for  true  brands,  reveals  the  fact  that  what  used  to  appear  to  be  a  fraud  upon  the 
revenue  in  low  valuations,  was,  and  still  is  now,  simply  a  fraud  upon  the  consumer. 

Very  little  wine  is  shipped  to  the  United  States  on  "  first  orders,"  or  upon  direct 
order.  Most  of  it  goes  for  sale  on  commission.  The  Bordeaux  merchants  complain 
that  the  American  merchants  generally  decline  to  give  orders  on  their  own  account  ; 
hence,  they  say,  we  can  only  afford  to  send  our  poorest  wines  to  America,  because 
commission  charges  always  eat  up  the  profits  on  fine  wines.  A  few  houses  have  regu- 
lar established  agencies,  and  never  deal  on  commission.  Hence,  a  small  portion  of 
the  wine  shipped  is  of  fine  quahty.  Excepting  the  rare  high-classed  wines,  the  French 
clarets  are  simply  tested  as  to  quality,  in  commerce,  by  their  price.     It  is  impossible 


94 

to  get  great  quantities  of  Si.  Julien,  Margaux,  St.  Emilion,  etc. — wines  well  known 
by  name  to  foreign  markets.  The  other  clarets  are  graded  by  price,  rather  than 
name,  and  the  merchant  who  orders  the  cheapest  will  get  the  clieapest,  and  the 
cheapest  means  vhi  de  cargaison,  such  as  is  usually  sent  to  be  sold  on  commission  for 
Bordeaux.  A  merchant  may  order  clarets  at  from  90  to  300  francs  a  barrel,  without 
touching  the  higher-priced  "  fine"  wines  known  by  names  as  Chiteaux. 

The  consumer  should  remember  these  facts,  and  learn  to  distinguish  between 
ordinary  wine  sold  on  commission  and  ordinary  wine  imported  on  the  importer's 
account.  There  is  very  little  wine  actually  imported  ;  mo^t  of  it  is  exported  to  us. 
There  are  few  real  importing  houses. 

Sherries  are  exported  to  us  from  Hamburg,  INIarseilles,  Cette,  Bordeaux  ana 
Havre.  Sherries  ^vQ-mported  by  us  from  the  district  of  Xeres,  in  Spain.  Natural 
sherry  is  rare.  The  sherry  of  ordinary  commerce  is  an  apology  for  whisky,  being 
one-fifth  common  proof  spirits.  Take  a  glass  of  California  wine  which  resembles 
and  is  called  sherry,  but  which  is  light  and  wholesome  ;  add  one-quarter  of  its 
volume  of  spirits,  and  you  will  detect  at  once  what  is  necessary  to  produce  the  kind 
of  spirituous  liquor  which  people  delude  themselves  into  calling  fine  wine,  because, 
as  the  Indians  say,  "  it  makes  drunk  come,"  and  looks  brilliant. 

THE    PORT    OF    MARSEILLES. 

To  comprehend  the  trade  of  the  Mediterranean  coast,  of  France,  the  reader  must 
remember  what  I  have  N\ritten  describing  the  ravages  of  phylloxera  among  the  vines 
of  the  I\Iidi.  The  production  of  wine  has  enormously  decreased  in  that  region;  hence 
the  first  result  is  a  decrease  in  the  distillation  of  brandy,  the  wines  being  in  demand 
for  the  Paris  and  foreign  markets.  The  demand  for  export  being  quite  steady,  and 
the  profits  of  the  foreign  trade  being  probably  greater  than  the  home  trade  ofters,  the 
exports  have  fallen  off  slowly.  The  wines  of  the  Midi  being  strong,  are  in  great  de- 
mand for  the  Paris  market,  where  they  are  used  to  fortify  the  coupages,  as  I  have 
before  explained.  It  is  the  people  of  the  district  who  feel  the  efifects  of  failing  produc- 
tion most;  they  take  to  common  alcohols  to  supply  the  place  of  wine,  which  used  to 
be  plentiful  with  them  all.  Hence  there  is  a  marked  change  in  the  alcohol  trade, 
and  especially  in  the  class  of  spirits  known  to  the  French  customs  service  as  eaux-dt- 
vie-auires,  wKich.  I  need  not  explain  again.  Poverty  invariably  leads  to  increased  con- 
sumption of  distilled  spirits,  and  this  is  illustrated  during  the  distress  of  the  people  of 
the  valley  of  the  Rhone. 

The  importations  of  wines  of  all  kinds  into  Marseilles,  from  1878  to  1877,  for 
which  period  I  have  tabulated  statements,  show  no  material  change  from  a  general 
average  of  about  5,000,000  litres  annually,  except  in  1875,  when  they  were  only  half 
that  amount;  1875  was  the  year  of  enormous  home  production.  Tlie  exportations  of  or- 
dinary wines  in  wood  fell  off  during  that  period  one-fourth,  and  liqueur  wines  nearly 
one-half.  The  decrease  has,  however,  been  quite  regular.  The  export  of  brandies 
(eaux-de-vie  de  vin)  fell  from  2,032,849  to  1,222,731  litres.  The  importation  of  eaux- 
de-vie-autres  mcvco.v,ed  from  196,815  to  1,1-42,363  litres,  and  the  exportation  decreased 
from  2,419,556  to  1,332,719  litres.  The  importation  of  common  alcohols  increased 
from  529,007  to  2,004,210  litres,  and  the  exportation  fell  from  5,800,450  to  3,873,- 
711.  This  year  the  American  alcohols  have  been  called  in  to  make  good  the  export 
demand.  Of  1,007,533  litres  imported  from  the  United  States  last  year,  only  16,332 
were  entered  for  consumption. 


95 

The  exports  of  wines  to  the  United  States,  according  to  French  statistics,  have 
kept  comparatively  even  for  the  Atlantic  ports,  but  have  decreased  greatly  for  the  Pa- 
cific Coast. 

The  following  statement  is  for  exports  in  litres: 

187a  1877. 

Atlantic  ports 1,202,341  1,247,701 

Pacific  ports 796,368  82^390 

During  1870-72,  the  exports  to  Atlantic  ports  were  given  as  between  three  and 
four  million  litres  annually;  to  the  Paciftc,  a  liitle  more  than  in  1873. 

Egypt,  the  United  States,  Brazil,  Rio-Plata,  Martinique,  Guadaloupe,  Reunion 
and  Cayenne  have  been  respectively  the  principal  markets  for  Marseilles  wines. 
Turkey  and  Uruguay  have  come  forward  since  1872.  The  United  States  "  connois- 
seur ''  knows  now  where  to  class  himself  among  the  wine  drinkers,  because  the  Mar- 
seilles wines,  though  useful  in  coupages,  are  generally  the  poorest  of  French  wines. 
In  1870,  the  JJnited  States,  Egypt  and  Brazil  were  the  largest  customers,  each  taking 
between  three  and  four  million  litres,  while  Great  Britain  took  onlv  275,944.  I 
suppose  that  the  INIidi  wines  have  been  used  in  the  United  States,  just  as  they  are  in 
Paris,  to  fortify  weak  mixtures.  The  natural  fine-bodied  California  wines  are  now 
displacing  them  almost  entirely  with  us. 

The  trade  with  Spanish-America  is  very  large  in  the  aggregate  and  indicates  the 
field  for  the  future  competition  of  our  wines. 

I  have  tabulated  abstracts  of  all  the  invoices  of  wines  and  spirits  from  Marseilles 
to  the  United  States  for  the  entire  years  1870  and  1877.  I  selected  these  two  years 
so  as  to  compare  prices  and  trade  under  the  old  ad  valorem  duty  with  those  under  the 
present  law. 

The  French  statisdcs  given  above  include  a  whole  district  of  which  Marseilles  is 
the  centre,  and,  as  I  understand,  include  also  the  exports  of  Cette.  Hence  the  in- 
voices of  the  United  States  Consulate  show  less  amounts  than  the  French  customs 
reports. 

There  is  such  a  tiresome  uniformity  in  the  prices  and  brands  of  wines  shipped 
from  Marseilles  that  I  shall  not  waste  m.y  time  in  making  analyses.  There  is  no 
material  difference  in  the  character  or  price  of  the  wines  shipped  in  1870  and  1877. 
The  wines  are  principally  exported  in  wood  and  bear  few  fancy  names,  even  in  the 
invoices.  The  dark  red  wines,  Roussillon,  Narbonnc,  Bandol,  etc.,  predominate  and 
are  unquestionably  used  in  the  United  States  for  blending  operations.  Then  there  is 
a  class  of  wines,  called  in  the  invoices  simply  "  white  wine,"  or  "  dry  white  wine  of 
Languedoc,"  etc.  The  remaining  lots  are  divided  jtrincipally  under  two  almost 
uniform  brands — Burgundy  port  and  sherry.  A  very  small  quantity  of  bottled  wines 
fills  out  the  lists.  Hence,  the  wine  shipped  from  Marseilles  is  simply  &/«  rcw^v  and 
Burgundy  port,  viit  hlanc  and  sherry.  No  matter  what  the  wines  are  called,  the  prices 
are  quite  regular  and  uniform  ;  all  are  cheap  wines.  I  shall  specify  only  the  quanti- 
ties sent  to  San  Francisco,  the  trade  with  other  cides  being  of  the  same  general 
character. 

In  1870  there  were  shipped  to  San  Francisco  : 

Two  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty  litres  of  red 
wines,  valued,  per  invoices,  at  85,242  francs,  which  (being  61,635  gallons,  price 
$17,042)  is  at  an  average  price  o!'  about  28  cents  per  gallon. 


96 

Forty-eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty  litres,  invoiced  vin  blanc,  total  in- 
voice price  20,630  francs — about  32  cents  per  gallon. 

Six  hundred  bottles,  vin  blanc ;  price,  -ilO  francs,  or  nearly  14  cents  a  bottle 
(botding  expenses,  8  cents  each,  included). 

Three  thousand  six  hundred  bottles  Muscat ;  2,100  francs,  or  a  litde  less  than 
preceding  in  cost. 

In  1877  only  a  small  quantity  was  shipped  to  California,  as  follows : 

Eight  thousand  five  hundred  litres  white  wine  ;  4,139  francs  ;  at  rate  of  about  37 
cents  per  gallon. 

Thirty-four  thousand  litres  "  sherr)' ;"  14,750  francs ;  or  at  the  rate  of  nearly 
33  cents  per  gallon. 

Twelve  hundred  bottles  (100  cases)  of  wine  (kind  not  indicated) ;  1,055.85 
francs  ;  or  about  16  cents  per  bottle. 

Thirty-five  thousand  two  hundred  and  twentv-five  litres  red  wine;  16,743  francs; 
or  at  rate  of  34  cents  per  gallon. 

The  quantities  shipped  to  New  York  and  other  places  in  the  United  States  were 
much  larger,  but  the  values  were  practically  the  same.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  San 
Francisco  had  some  very  cheap  " foreign  sherries"  last  year — less  than  7  cents  a 
bottle,  plus  8  cents  bottling  expenses,  and  8  cents  duty  (it  went  in  wood;  duty  40 
cents  per  gallon — five  bottles).  Such  sherry,  served  over  the  bar,  or  in  hotels,  where 
bottling  expense  is  slight,  would  cost  less  than  00  cents  per  gallon  to  the  retailer,  or 
18  cents  per  bottle. 

I  will  extract  a  few  passages  from  the  report,  which  was  sent  me  from  Marseilles 
after  I  had  left  there,  together  with  the  tabulated  statements,  which  I  had  arranged 
to  have  prepared  for  me.     The  writer  says  : 

"I  have  deemed  it  sufficient  to  give  an  accurate  idea  of  the  qualities  of  the 
wines  exported,  and  particularly  of  the  invariable  prices,  apparently  independent  of 
the  names  under  which  they  are  sent.  All  the  wines,  with  the  exception  of  very  small 
quantities  of  really  superior  brands  sent  probably  for  the  personal  use  of  private  citi- 
zens, are  the  cheap  vm^  ordinaires  of  the  Midi,  generally  sent  under  the  denominations 
of  vins  rouges  or  llancs,  of  Roussillon,  Herault,  Languedoc,  Var,  Or  Provence,  and 
sometimes,  probably  to  comply  with  the  request  of  consignees,  of  Burgundy  port  or 
sherry. 

"The  fact  being  established  that  the  wines  sent  from  this  district  are  of  one 
average  quality,  I  have  gathered  the  prices  for  the  same  during  the  following  years  : 

1871,  from  25  francs  to  45  francs  per  100  litres. 

1872,  "  28  "  48  "  100  " 

1873,  "  38  "  57  "  100  " 

1874,  "  40  "  55  "  100  " 

1875,  "  28  "  48  "  100  " 

(N.  B. — An  average  of  40  francs  would  be  at  the  rate  of  30  cents  per  gallon.) 
"  I  have  found  it  difficult  to  get  at  the  true  explanation  of  the  methods  of  manu- 
facturing exotic  wines ;  the  dealers  who  do  most  of  that  sort  of  business,  of  course, 
keep  it  as  secret  as  possible,  although  the  general  belief  is  that  such  wines  are  made 
of  the  cheap  ordinary  wines  (white  and  red)  of  the  country,  and  that  the  processes  of 
giving  the  appearance  and  flavors  of  fine  wines  is  not  injurious  to  consumers.  This 
may  be  true,  for  aught  that  I  know  to  the  contrary." 


97 

The  practice  of  manufacturing  imitation  wines  is  carried  on  at  ^larseilles,  as  well 
as  at  Cette  and  Bordeaux  ;  most  of  the  wines  shipped  to  the  United  States  are  invoiced 
simply  as  red  or  white  wines;  whether  they  are  flavored,  fortified,  and  prepared  for 
swindling  the  public  in  America,  I  cannot  tell.  The  fact,  however,  is  established,  that 
nothing  but  verj'  cheap  wines  come  to  us  from  this  port. 

THE  TRADE  WITH  CETTE. 

There  has  been  only  one  detailed  report  called  for  by  the  State  Department  irom 
the  Cette  agency.  It  was  made  for  the  year  1873,  but  not  published.  I  saw  the  copy, 
preserved  at  Cette,  and  took  notes  from  it. 

In  1873,  Cette  imported  (principally  "from  Spain  and  Italy)  33,554,580  litres  of 
wine,  and  73,099  litres  of  alcohol  ;  exported  54,243,181  litres  of  wine  ;  1,341,018  of 
brandies;  27,689  of  liquors,  and  1,187,931  of  ordinary  spirits.  In  the  same  year 
the  exports  of  wines  to  the  United  States  were  : 

Caskf.  Valued  in  francs. 

New  York 26,524  1,818,720 

New  Orleans 7,209  481,100 

San  Francisco 3, 147  235,544 

Philadelphia 1,500  92,538 

Chicago 100  8,056 

Baltimore 140  8,250 

Boston 140  8,250 

This  would  be  at  the  rate  of  less  than  30  cents  per  gallon  for  Cette  wines. 

In  the  .same  report,  Mr.  Nahmens,  the  Consul,  replied  to  a  question  in  the  De- 
partment, as  follows: 

"  Liqueur  wines  only  are  manufactured  at  Cette,  and  as  to  the  method  followed 
in  imitating  malaga,  sherry,  madeira,  burgundy  port,  porto,  malvoisie,  and  other 
foreign  wines,  the  commerce  of  our  town  makes  use  of  pure  wines  only,  mixing  them 
up  in  different  ways,  and  acting  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  operations.  This 
constitutes  the  sole  way  of  manufacturing  wines  here.  After  the  mixture,  it  is  let 
alone  to  grow  old. 

"Relative  to  the  ordinary  wines   that  arc  bought  in  the  country  at  the  vineyards,  ' 
they  are  despatched   in  the  same  state  as  when  they  come  out  of  the  tub;  but  a  mer- 
chant w-ho  wishes  to  give  to  a  weak  wine  more  strength  and  color,  employs  the  dark 
wines  of  the  territory — that  is  to  say,  he  mixes  one  with  the  other,  and,  in  so  doing, 
arrives  at  the  degree,  color  and  flavor  that  constituents  desire." 

This  was  written  just  before  the  change  in  the  tariff,  making  a  uniform  specific 
tax  on  all  wines  in  wood,  and  raising  the  tax  of  the  cheapest,  which  had  been  25 
cents  on  wines  valued  at  less  than  40  cents  per  gallon.  He  says:  "Concerning  the 
impression  made  upon  the  commerce  of  our  city  by  the  proposition  to  equalize  the 
import  duties  on  wines  in  the  United  States,  our  people  express  different  opinions. 
The  greater  number.of  our  merchants  believe  that  if  the  new  tariff  is  adopted  the  im- 
ports of  wines  into  the  United  States  will  receive  a  heavy  blow." 

Since  then,  the  exportations  from  Cette  to  the  United  States  have  decreased.  It 
is  to  restore  the  old  condition  of  things  fcrthe  benefit  of  Cette  manipulators  and  those 
of  Bordeaux,  Havre  and  Marseilles,  that  it  is  now  proposed  to  reduce  the  tariff  to  20 
cents  per  gallon.  Mr.  Nahmens  gi^es  a  very  curiously-evasive  description  of  the  pro- 
cesses of  manipulation  of  imitation  wines  in  Cette;  but  his  statements,  coming  from 


98 

a  man  who  had  been  in  the  business  and  is  so  largely  interested  in  the  place,  must  be 
taken  cum  gram  salis.  The  statement  that  they  "  let"  cheap  Cette  wines  "  alone  '"  to 
grow  old,  is  absurd.  It  is  in  Cette  that  the  practice  of  heating  wines  and  giving  arti- 
ficial age  by  means  of  mixtures  is  made  a  fine  art.  An  old  wine  from  Cette  would  be 
a  curiosity,  unless  it  were  some  that  had  been  imported  there  to  mix  with  new  wines, 
as  an  aid  in  improving  quality. 

An  examination  of  the  invoices  made  out  during  the  past  year  at  the  Cette  office 
revealed  the  following  facts: 

During  the  year  ending  September,  1878,  there  were  shipped  to  San  Francisco 
from  Cette  (generally  via  ^Marseilles)  4,000  gallons  vin  rouge  doiix  (sweet  red  wine, 
probably  imitation  port),  price  31  cents  per  gallon;  1,000  gallons  do.,  at  29  cents; 
4,000  gallons  do.,  as  28  cents;  2,000  gallons  do.,  at  32  cents;  3,200  gallons  vin  noir 
port,  at  33  oents;  1,G00  gallons  do.,  at  33  cents;  2,362  gallons  do.,  at  35  cents;  2,400 
gallons  sherrv,  at  30  cents;  1,200  gallons  sherry,  at  33  cents;  2,250  gallons  vin  noir 
port,  at  40  cents;  5,500  gallons  do.,  at  41  cents;  1,000  gallons  sherry,  at  30  cents; 
3, GOO  gallons  sherry,  at  30  cents;  650  gallons  "Burgundy  port,"  at  33  cents;  600 
gallons  sherry,  at  33  cents;  1,200  gallons  "  Burgundy  port,"'  at  31  cents;  400  gallons 
sherr}',  at  31  cents. 

This  amounts  to  27,762  gallons  of  so-called  ports,  9,200  gallons  of  sherries, 
taken  in  San  Francisco  in  the  last  year  from  Cette,  at  prices  about  30  cents  per  gallon. 

Among  the  lots  shipped  to  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  I  noticed  such 
brands  as  "  Monopole  Sherry,"  "P.  Arnaud  Sherry,"  "Sherry-Lion,"  the  prices  all 
averaging  as  above.      A  large  lot  of  such  wines  goes  to  New  York. 

One  honest  invoice  mentions  simply  lots  of  "Picardin  a  20","  "  Roussillon  a 
20","  "  Narbonne  a  20'^,"   '' Montaignes  Nature." 

I  feel  quite  sure  that  the  last  items  explain  the  whole  secret  of  this  so  called  port, 
and  perhaps,  sherry  trade.  A  dealer  in  New  York,  who  wants  to  imitate  the  Bercy 
manipulators  of  Paris,  may  desire  a  dark-red  Roussillon,  or  Narbonne,  fortified  with 
alcohol,  to  mix  with  cheap  vins  de  cargaison  from  Bordeaux,  and  ivaler.  He  can  get 
"his  alcohol  at  a  cost  of  about  seventy  cents  per  proof  gallon,  by  importing  it  in  the 
shape  of  fortified  wine —"Narbonne  d  20'''"  for  instance,  which  means  that  the  Nar- 
bonne red  wine  has  been  fortified  to  20  per  cent,  in  alcoholic  strength.  Both  the 
Narbonne  and  alcohol  are  needed  to  perfect  the  mixtures,  and  the  alcohol  is  obtained 
in  this  way  at  a  price  cheaper  than  the  Internal  Revenue  tax  in  the  United  States,  for, 
when,  mixed  wi  h  wine,  it  only  pays  wine  duties.  Possibly  it  is  also  used  in  fortifying 
cheap  ports.  1  think  that  our  legislators  should  investigate  this  question  a  little,  no 
ma'l^r  whose  interests  it  hurts.  Whether  these  fortified  wines  are  used  in  the  United 
States,  in  preparing  ports  or  sherries,  or  in  the  manufacture  of  "  fine  French  wines," 
for  people  who  won't  drink  natural,  native  wines,  makes  no  difference  ;  such  wines 
are  not  proper  drinks  to  encourage  in  any  way. 

The  entire  exportation  of  wines  from  Cette  to  all  countries  was,  in  1871,  693,099 
hectolitres ;  from  that  time  there  has  been  a  steady  decrease,  each  year  falling  below 
the  preceding,  until  in  1877  the  amount  was  only  251,015  hectolitres. 

The  quantities  sent  into  the  interior  by  railway  was  487,332  hectolitres  in  1871, 
and  698,147  in  1877.  The  shipments  by  the  coasting  trade  fell  frgm,  599,463  to, 
357.235. 


99 

This  statement  again  shows  that  tlie  demand  for  home  consumption  controls  the 
trade.  When  the  home  demand  is  good,  merchants  are  not  Ukely  to  export  much 
for  sale  on  commission  in  foreign  countries.  The  statistics  concerning  Cette  show 
that  the  interior  demand  is  steadily  increasing,  and  that  decreasing  production  causes 
decreased  exportations.  I  can  find  neither  in  Cette  nor  INIarseilles  any  indication 
of  any  surplus  supplies  on  which  to  base  any  increased  foreign  wine  trade,  unless  dis- 
guised alcohols  are  resorted  to  in  case  of  increased  foreign  demand. 

THE    BORDEAUX    TRADE. 

We  have  not  yet  found  any  "fine"  wines  going  to  the  United  States  from 
France,  and  none  at  high  prices,  notwithstanding  the  labels,  that  may  be  used  by  our 
dealers.  Let  us  see,  now,  what  the  Bordeaux  trade  can  say  for  itself.  Here  we  must 
expect  to  bring  up  the  credit  of  French  labels,  or  we  must  give  it  up,  for  then  there 
is  only  Havre  left  to  consider  among  the  exporting  places,  and  there  the  trade  is  much 
inferior  to  that  of  Bordeaux,  and,  in  some  respects,  oh  a  par  with  Marseilles. 

There  are  no  "  fine"  wines  in  France  known  to  foreign  commerce,  except  those 
of  small  sections  of  the  Bordeaux  district,  burgundies  and  champagnes.  The  bur- 
gundies do  not  enter  largely  into  the  foreign  markets,  on  account  of  their  inability, 
generally,  to  stand  transportation.  Only  exceedingly  small  quantities  are  shipped  to 
the  United  States.  Hence,  excepting  champagnes,  we  must  look  to  the  Bordeaux 
commerce  for  the  "  fine"  white  and  red  French  wines,  which  our  people  suppose  they 
are  so  liberally  supplied  with.  The  very  small  quantities  of  fine  wines  of  the  Midi, 
such  as  cote  roti,  are  too  insigiiificant  in  quantity  to  be  considered  as  sources  of  sup- 
ply for  a  large  commerce. 

The  Frontignan  muscats  have  been  swept  away  by  the  phylloxera. 

I  have  already  written  enough  concerning  the  rare  qualities  of  genuine  M6doc 
and  other  fine  Bordeaux  clarets,  as  well  as  of  the  Barsac  and  Sauterne  white  wines, 
to  satisfy  the  most  emhusiastic  friends  they  have.  My  criticisms  are  not  against  the 
quality  of  the  genuine  wines,  but  relate  solely  to  the  actual  condition  of  commerce 
and  the  questions  of  supply  and  demand.  I  have  shown,  by  giving  statistics  of  pro- 
duction and  exportation,  that  it  is  impossible  to  expect  to  make  one  gallon  of  fine 
wine  satisfy  a  demand  for  ten,  and  that  the  demand  is  much  greater  than  the  produc- 
tion. Hence  I  have  tried  to  show  that  we  cannot  expect  much  more  than  viti  ordi- 
naire from  France,  and  that  even  now  we  cannot  increase  the  commerce  in  genuine 
ordinary  wines.  According  to  labels  and  brands  of  wines  sold  in  the  United  States, 
we  should  be  getting  more  "  fine  "  wines  than  ordinary  cheap  articles  ;  the  facts  show 
that  we  get  little  "  fine  "  wine  ;  that  the  labels  are  frauds  generally,  and  that  vin 
ordiyiaire  and  vin  de  cari^aison  are  the  staple  wines  of  foreign  trade.  Some  of  those 
wines  are  undoubtedly  good  ;  but  they  are  cheap,  and  it  is  not  the  tariff  which  makes 
them  so  dear  to  the  consumer. 

I  am  quite  satisfied  now  that  we  cannot  get  from  France  much  more  pure  wine 
of  any  kind  than  we  do  now.  It  concerns  us,  however,  to  know  what  it  is  that  we 
do  get. 

I  hope  I  shall  not  offend  any  sensitive  people,  especially  French  wine-drinkers, 
who,  if  they  will  reflect,  will  i)erceive  at  once  that,  the  more  light  is  thrown  upon 
these  subjects,  the  more  they  will  be  protected  from  impositions.  I  am  opposed  to 
the  proposed  treaty,  so  far  as  wines  and  brandies  are  concerned,  because  even  now 


lOO 

there  is  not  sufficient  genuine  material  lo  supply  the  demand  under  the  present  tariff. 
If  there  were  any  excess  of  pure  wine  in  France  ;  if  the  exportation  to  countries 
where  there  are  low  duties  showed  increase  instead  of  decrease,  I  should  favor  any 
law  that  would  enable  us  to  increase  the  supplies  of  pure  wines  in  our  markets.  A 
special  treaty  with  France  will  not  accomplish  any  good  for  the  wine-drinker.  If  we 
need  more  pure  wine  of  foreign  production,  we  must  go  to  Hungary  for  it.  Spain 
and  Italy  are  being  overdrawn  upon  by  France  and  cannot  supply  much  more  than  at 
present.     The  products  of  Greece  are  loo  small. 

If  we  want  much  pure  wine,  we  must  produce  it  ourselves,  and  to  that  end  every 
encouragement  should  be  given  to  our  viniculturists  that  is  possible  and  right,  to 
enable  them  to  establish  their  industries.  When  wine  is  plenty  with  us,  the 
price,  by  reason  of  competition,  will  be  cheap  enough.  Until  then  we  do 
not  need  any  increase  of  the  trade  in  French  vin  de  cargaison,  or  alcoholic 
deceits;  we  had  better  content  ourselves  with  beer,  or  even  whisky.  There- 
fore, when  I  lift  the  veil  of  popular  fancy  from  the  Bordeaux  trade,  I  hope  I  shall  not 
be  considered  hostile  to  the  genuine  wine  trade  and  genuine  French  interests,  even 
if  in  competition  with  our  own,  though  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  preach  the  doctrine 
that  our  duty  is  first  to  consider  the  welfare  o(  our  own  citizens,  including  all  the 
French,  Germans  and  other  foreign  born  people,  who  have  come  to  work  and  live 
with  us.  We  must  protect  the  industries  of  the  people  whom  we  have  invited  to  live 
wiih  us,  even  at  the  risk  of  opposing  the  local  rival  interests  of  iheir  former  homes. 

The  French  Customs  Service  Reports,  in  full,  for  1877,  have  just  been  issued. 
I  find  by  them  that  the  statistics  for  that  year,  given  in  other  reports,  are  somewhat 
faulty,  and  I  shall  therefore  give  the  statement  of  the  wine  exports  to  the  United 
States  as  I  am  now  able  to  compile  it.  In  these  statistics*  a  distinction  is  made 
between  "  wines  of  the  Gironde"  (the  Bordeaux  wines)  and  "  wines  of  other  places."^ 
The  mercharits,  when  obtaining  the  necessary  papers  to  authorize  them  to  export 
wines  free  of  all  taxes,  indicate  to  the  government  the  place  of  destination.  lience, 
since  it  is  certain  that,  by  reason  oi  coupages  at  Bordeaux,  the  quantity  of  genuine  and 
pure  wines  of  the  Gironde  is  much  less  than  the  quantities  which  pretend  to  be  such, 
the  figures  for  such  exports  in  the  French  statistics  must  express  more,  and  not  less, 
than  the  true  quantity  exported.  We  can,  therefore,  begin  comparisons  with  the 
French  statistics  without  danger  of  doing  injustice  to  the  character  of  wines  shipped 
to  us. 

In  1877  the  exports  for  all  France  to  the  United  States,  in  hectolitres,  were  : 

GIRONDE  WINES    (iN  WOOD)  : 

To  Atlantic  ports 38,618 

To  Pacific  Coast 8,417  47,035 

GIRONDE    WINES    (iN    BOTTLE)  : 

To  Atlantic  ports 4, 333 

To  Pacific  Coast   1,139  5,472 

WINES    OF    OTHER    DISTRICTS  (iN  WOOd)  : 

To  Atlantic  ports 30,778 

WINES   CF   OTHE.<»    DISTRICTS  (iN    BOTTLE): 

To  Atlantic  ports 14,454 


lOl 

LIQUEUR    WINES  (iN  WOOD): 

To  Atlantic  ports 1,793 

LIQUEUR    WINES    (iN    BOTTLE): 

To  Atlantic  ports 1,233 

To  Pacific  Coast 908  2,141 

Total  (in  hectolitres) 101,673 

According  to  this  statement,  reduced  to  American  gallons,  the  amount  of  French 
wines  exported  to  the  United  States  in  1877  was  2,084,749  gallons.  Of  this  amount 
about  one-half  was  represented  to  be  Gironde  or  Bordeaux  wines,  white  and  red. 
Hence,  of  the  four  or  more  million  gallons  of  wine  imported  into  the  United  States 
from  all  countries,  and  of  the  entire  consumption  of  native  and  foreign  wines, 
amounting  to  about  twenty  million  gallons,  not  more  than  one  million  and  a  third 
can  be  counted  as  Bordeaux  wine — white  and  red.  Tlie  Bordeaux  wines  received 
via  England  cannot  change  this  proportion  materially,  so  far  as  simple  comparisons 
are  concerned.  The  wine-drinker  can  therefore  see  at  once  that  even  such  wine  as 
is  claimed  to  be  Bordeaux  wine  before  it  leaves  the  French  entrepots,  must  neces- 
sarily be  comparatively  rare  in  our  retail  stores,  restaurants,  hotels,  etc. 

But  the  American  wine-drinker  drinks  wines  labeletl  with  fine  names.  Such 
wines,  if  genuine,  are  exported  from  France  in  bottle.  From  the  statement  above  it 
will  be  seen  that  only  a  little  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  Bordeaux  wines  were  ex- 
ported in  botde.  This  amount  included  all  the  genuine  white  and  red  wines,  beside, 
as  I  will  soon  show,  being  in  major  part  merely  cheap  imitations,  labeled  with  false 
brands.  Hence  it  is  positively  certain,  from  these  general  figures,  that  the  rare 
French  fine  wines  are  seldom  drunk  in  our  country.  The  rest  is  simply  viti  ordinaire, 
or,  worse,  vin  de  cargaison,  and  therefore  can  be  sold  cheaply  by  our  retailers,  I 
make  no  mention  of  the  liqueur  wines,  which  are  all,  or  practically  all,  concoctions 
prepared  in  secret  but  recognized  by  the  whole  trade,  and  especially  by  the  French 
government,  as  I  showed  recently  in  quoting  from  the  oflliciil  document  of  the 
Minister  of  Finance. 

1  have  prepared,  from  the  records  of  the  United  States  Consulate  at  Bordeaux, 
tabulated  statements,  showing  the  quantity  (whether  in  wood  or  bottle),  value  and 
brand  of  each  item  of  wines  and  spirits  exported  to  the  Pacific  Coast  from  Bordeaux 
during  the  entire  year  ending  September  30,  1878  ;  also,  similar  .statements  for  all 
ports  of  the  United  States  to  which  such  articles  were  exported  during  the  first  three 
months  of  the  present  year.  From  them  I  am  able  to  show  what  kinds  and  quanti- 
ties of  wines  and  spirits  go  to  the  diflferent  sections  of  the  country,  judging  merits 
by  values  as  well  as  brands. 

The  values  of  wines  in  Bordeaux  are  not  uncertain  and  fanciful  ;  they  are  as 
well  known  as  the  prices  of  May,  June,  Spring  and  Winter  wheat  are  in  Chicago — 
accordmg  to  brand,  age  and  year  of  vintage.  The  prices  in  the  invoices  are  un- 
doubtedly a  little  higher  than  those  given  for  the  same  articles  in  the  weekly  Prices 
Current  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Bordeaux,  especially  when  llie  invoices  spec  fy 
wines,  etc.,  to  be  sold  on  commission.  When  they,  as  ihey  sometimes  but  not  often 
do,  enumerate  shipments  purchased  to  order  of  consignees,  the  invoices  specify  the 
commissions  and  other  expenses  separately  from  the  values  or  cost  of  the  goods. 


102 

The  tables  contain  about  thirteen  hundred  separate  icems  ;  hence  I  cannot 
attempt  to  pubUsh  them  in  full.  There  is  not  sufficient  difference  in  general  charac- 
teristics to  make  it  worth  while  for  me  to  analyze  at  present  the  tables  for  all  the  dif- 
ferent places,  such  as  New  York,  New  Orleans,  etc.  I  will  content  myself  now  by 
taking  up  the  entire  year  for  San  Francisco,  collecting  together  the  items  under  gen- 
eral heads,  according  to  prices,  brands,  etc. 

red  wines  shipped  to  san  fr.a.ncisco,  from  bordeaux,  during  year  ending  september 

30th,  1878. 

First — Red   Wine  in  Casks. 

A. — The  first  group  is  composed  of  those  which  are  valued  in  the  invoices  at  the 
current  prices  of  cargo  clarets  (vin  de  cargaison),  and  of  the  cheapest  qualities  of  viti 
ordinaire,  generally  less  than  100  francs  a  barrel  (barrique)  of  si.\ty  gallons,  and  never 
exceeding  that  price  in  any  material  degree.  The  aggregate  shipments  were,  accord- 
ing to  the  brands  in  the  invoices  (francs  being  reduced  to  United  States  money,  at 
the  rate  of  five  to  the  dollar,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  though  the  dollar  is  worth 
three  cents  more),  as  follows  : 

Equiv.-ilent  Val's  red'cd 

Wine  as  designated  in  Invoices.  Oals.  in  Bottles.  U.  S.  Money. 

Vin 9,120  43,600                $     3,227 

Vin  Rouge  (red  wine) 72,G00  363,090  24,754 

Vin  de  Cargaison 27,800  139,050  9,290 

Vin  Rouge  (price  below  all  others) 6,000  30,000  1,003 

Vin  de  Cargaison— Montferrand 35,550  177,750  11,567 

\m  de  Cargaison— St.  Lezignan 5,400  27,000  1,750 

Moniferrand 59,490  297,450  19,851 

St.  Lezignan 52,380  261,900  17,415 

Vin  de    Cargaison — Marqu6   Chateau  de 

de  la  Passonne 12,900  64,500  4,306 

Chateau  de  la  Passonne 7,200  36,000  2,490 

Montgaillard 3,000  15,000  988 

Chateau  de  Caix  de  Cahors 7,200  3,600  2,401 

Ludon,  Ambes,  St.  Macaire,  Paysan,  Pom- 

pignac.  Family  and  Fronsac,  etc 20,700  103,500  7,324 

Totals 322,350  1,596,750  $106,426 

The  average  price  of  the  wines  in  the  foregoing  table  is  shown  to  be  30  cents 
per  gallon  in  Bordeaux,  or  six  cents  per  bottle  (bottling  expenses  not  included).  The 
cost  to  the  large  dealers  in  San  Francisco,  including  duty,  transportation  and  landing, 
is  not  more  than  80  cents  per  gallon.  The  greater  portion,  if  not  all,  is  vin  de  cargai- 
son, whether  so  styled  or  not  in  the  invoices.  A  portion  of  the  last  aggregated  items 
is  undoubtedly  cheap  simple  red  wines,  mostly  intended  for  preparing  coupages  in 
San  Francisco.  I  have  omitted  two  names  of  brands  from  the  last  mentioned, 
because  I  could  not  read  them  with  certainty.  The  fourth  item  is  so  low  in  price 
that  it  cannot  be  considered  anything  else  than  a  gross  adulteration — water,  alcohol, 
and  perhaps  some  wine.  More  than  nine-tenths  of  the  whole  is  unquestionably  vin 
de  cargaison,  prepared  especially  for  the  San  Francisco  market;  under  what  names  it 
is  sold  there  is  known  only  to  the  jobbers,  who  botde  it,  or  the  brokers,  who  sell  to 
retailers,  and  the  retailers  themselves. 


Equivalent 

Val.  in  T*.  S. 

ill  Ijottk's. 

Money. 

y8,700 

S;J97 

12,000 

913 

18,000 

1,500 

15,000 

1,050 

6,300 

644 

4,500 

422 

8,600 

360 

12,900 

1,103 

6,000 

400 

10,500 

900 

103 

B.  I  will  now  group  the  next  class,  gathering  together  those  which  are  valued 
at  more  than  100  francs  per  barrel,  but  considerably  less  than  200 — that  is,  those 
which  range,  as  to  price,  alongside  of  the  common  and  medium  vins  ordinaires  of 
Bordeaux,  but  not  equal  to  the  superior  qualities  : 

Gals. 

Vin   Rouge 7,740 

Chateau  Larose (!) 2,400 

St.  Macaire  (or  Mexer  ?) 3,600 

Chat.  Gravelines 3,0U0 

Chat.  St.  Michael 1,200 

Medoc 900 

Moulis-Medoc 720 

Cotes 2,580 

Pompignan 1,200 

Loudon 2,100 

Totals 25,500  127,500  $8,299 

This  preceding  table  shows  wines  averaging  32  cents  per  gallon  ;  only  two  cents 
more  than  the  first  group,  or  less  than  half  a  cent  a  bottle.  There  is  a  great  im- 
provement in  quality,  but  this  small  increase  of  cost  is  what  prevents  either  the  French 
merchants  from  shipping  more  of  it  for  sale  on  commission  or  prevents  the  retailers 
in  our  country  from  ordering  better  wines.  They  save /zcfl  avz/j  a  gallon— all  other 
expenses  of  bottling,  duty,  etc.,  being  the  same.  This  last  kind  is  itself  ver}'  cheap 
vin  ordmaire,  or  a  good  quality  of  vm  de  cargaison  ;  yet  the  quantity  of  the  lirbt  kind, 
at  30  cents  a  gallon,  exported  to  us  is  twelve  times  as  great.  Moreover,  we  find 
among  this  cheap  wine  2,400  gallons  (equaling  12,000  bottles)  branded  "Chateau 
Larose."  Unquestionably  this  is  a  vin  de  cargaison  upon  which  a  litde  extra  work 
and  expense  have  been  incurred  in  producing  flavors,  color,  and  bouquet.  The  wine 
drinkers,  who  pay  two  dollars  a  bottle  for  "  Chateau  Larose  "  and  one  dollar  for  the 
cheapest  French  wines,  may  understand  that  the  difference  in  cost — one  dollar  per 
bottle,  or  five  dollars  per  gallon — is  caused  by  the  increase  in  price  of  a  few  cents 
per  gallon.  How  much  any  or  all  of  the  other  brands  in  the  last  table  were  flavored 
and  perfumed,  so  as  to  suit  the  American  jobbers,  who  turn  them  out  as  "  Chateau 
Larose,"  "Chateau  Margaux,"  etc.,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  tell.  I  wish  only  to 
call  attention  to  prices,  which  indicate  the  relative  quality  of  the  wine  before  it  leaves 
Bordeaux,  and  to  still  further  impress  upon  my  readers  that  the  great  bulk  of  wines 
exported  to  us  is  vin  ordinaire,  vin  de  cargaison  and  cheap. 

C.    The  next  group  is  arranged  with  reference  to  another  general  average  in- 
crease in  value,  being  above  150  and  less  than  250  francs  per  barrel,  and  ranging  as 

to  price  among  the  genuine  bon  and  superieur  clarets  of  the  Bordeaux  district,  but  not 
among  the  high-classed  wines  known  by  names  of  vineyards  to  the  woild  outside  of 
Bordeaux : 

Gals. 

Vin  Rouge 1,290 

Bas-Mddoc 900 

M^doc,  1874 120 

St.  Julien 780 

St.  Estcphe 120 

Blanquffort  (Medoc) 1,680 

'lot-ils 4,890  24,450  §3,211 


Equivalent 

Val. 

in  U    S. 

in  bottles. 

Money. 

6.450 

$864 

4,500 

570 

600 

86 

3,900 

506 

600 

80 

8,400 

1,105 

104 

This  preceding  group,  small  in  quantity,  shows  a  general  average  of  65  cents  per 
t^allon;  duty  and  all  expenses  included,  the  cost  in  San  Francisco  must  be  about 
$1  15.  Such  wines  w^ould  cost  the  restaurant  and  hotel  keeper,  who  save  bottles,  or 
return  them  lo  th:  jobber  to  be  refilled,  about  25  cents  per  bottle,  certainly  not  more 
than  30  cents.  Pints,  or  half  botdes,  would  not  exceed  20  cents.  These  are,  how- 
ever, as  compared  with  the  great  bulk  of  other  wines,  veiy  recherche.  I  have  before 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  fastidious  wine  drinker  is  fortunate  if  he  gets  a 
boitle  of  "INIedoc,"  "  St.  Julien,''  etc.,  as  above — those  names  being  taken  from  com- 
munes and  not  vineyards.  Our  restaurants  and  hotels  sell  such  labels  as  the  lowest 
on  their  lists,  while  they  are  among  the  highest  imported.  The  truth  is  that,  the 
labels  "  Chateau  Lafitte,"  etc.,  are  put  on  the  Medoc  wine,  and  "  Medoc,"  etc.,  on 
the  vin  de  cargaison.  This  last  group,  however,  does  not  show  any  reason  for  high 
prices  at  retail,  such  as  consumers  have  to  pay.  The  quantity  is  very  small,  but  this 
fa  t  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  high  price  and  duty;  for  the  consumer  is  willing 
to  and  does  pay  enough  to  secure  the  genuine  article,  if  it  is  to  be  obtained  ;  but 
there  is  little  to  get,  the  supply  being  small  in  France. 

D.  The  next  and  last  group  of  the  red  wines  exported  in  cask  is  a  small  and 
rare  collection.  The  brands  may  not  all  be  true,  but  the  prices,  ranging  from  150  lo 
550  francs  per  barrel,  are  very  good  proofs  that  the  articles  are  genuine  and  fine, 
though  the  name  of  one  vineyard  may  have  been  placed,  in  some  cases,  upon  wines 
of  another,  and  though  it  is  possible  that  there  may  be  some  impositions. 

Equivalent  in         Values  in  U. 
Gals.  bottles.  S.  Money. 

Vin  Rouge,  1874 600  3,000  $1,100 

"     240  1,200  280 

Chat,  de  I'Ysle  (Medoc) 380  1,800  180 

Chat.  Lagrange,  St.  Julien 120  COO  100 

Ch.  Forney,  Moulis,  Medoc 120       -  600  100 

Chat.  Gazin,  1874 120  600  102 

Chateau  Dillon 720  3,600  770 

Chateau  Larose 240  1,200  360 

Totals 2,520  12,600  $3,012 

This  small  lot  of  "fine"  wines,  not  equal  in  quantity  to  one  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  amount  of  Bordeaux  red  wines  shipped  in  the  last  year  in  casks,  has  an  aver- 
age value  of  $1  20  per  gallon.  This  does  not,  however,  include  any  oi  theirs/  cr us, 
for  they  are  always,  as  the  other  fine  wines  are  generally,  exported  only  in  bottle. 
The  difference  in  the  values  of  the  small  lot  of  "Chateau  Larose"  in  this  table,  as 
compared  with  the  large  and  spurious  lots  which  figure  among  the  vi'ns  de  cargaison, 
ought  to  trouble  the  con.science  of  hotel  and  restaurant-keepers,  for  they  can  even 
well  afford  to  pay  the  price  of  genuine  wines,  considering  the  prices  they  charge  per 
bottle. 

In  addition  to  the  above  quantities  of  red  wines  in  cask,  there  were  also  7,610 
gallons  of  "  Burgundy  port,"  valued  at  about  40  cents  per  gallon,  and  about  5,000 
gallons  of  Roussillon,  averaging  about  38  cents.  These  wines,  however,  need  not  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the  others,  excepting  as  indicating  that  they  are  used 
in  California  by  the  jobbers,  more  or  less,  in  preparing  cotipages  and  "fancy''  wines 
from  cheap  material. 


I05 

Id.  Red  wines  in  bottle  .•  It  should  be  remembered  that  bottling  expenses  more 
than  double  the  cost  of  the  cheapest  wines,  but  are  relatively  less  for  the  finest 
articles.  The  average  rule  of  the  cost  in  Bordeaux  of  bottles,  corks,  straw,  labels, 
cases,  and  labor  in  packing,  according  to  the  invoices  in  which  such  expenses 
are  enumerated,  is  eight  cents  (40  centimes)  per  bottle  (quarts),  and  six  cents  for 
pints.  \\\  the  tables  below,  the  bottling  expenses  are  included  in  nearly  all  instances. 
In  a  certain  invoice  to  New  York,  of  St.  Julicn,  Floriac,  etc.,  wine  costing  13,915 
francs,  the  bottling,  packing,  etc.,  caused  an  addition  of  5,755  francs.  But  of  this  I 
w^ll  write  hereafter  in  connection  wuth  the  subject  of  the  proposed  treaty,  one  of  the 
objects  of  which  is  to  transfer  to  France  all  the  business  of  bottling  French  wines, 
thereby  doubling  the  revenues  from  our  wine  trade  in  such  places  as  Bordeaux. 
A.  Red  wines  in  botde,  valued  at  20  cents  (one  franc)  or  less  per  quart  bottle  : 

Vnluo  in 
Pints.  Quarts.  U.S.Money. 

Vin  Rouge   ...  11,340  $1,320 

"     2,7G6  505 

"     900  162 

"     750  ....  60 

"     1,200  ....  120 

Paysan 1.977  290 

"•    360  ....  30 

M6doc 1,200  240 

Chateau  Larose 3,600  442 

"     2,400  480 

Larose,  Bertrande  &  Co 600  90 

"     1.200                120 

Cantenac ...  1,200  145 

St.  Emilion 600  120 

Chateau  Pransy 1,800  270 

Montferrand 1,200  140 

St.    Loubes 1,500  300 

Chat.  Baran 1,200  160 

Chateau  Lafitte 1,200  140 

"          •'     ...  800  45 

Chateau  Latour 300  45 

Totals 3,510  34,083  $5,224 

From  the  foregoing  group — 34,083  quarts  and  3,510  pints,  equal  to  35,838  full 
bottles — an  average  value  of  a  little  less  than  15  cents  per  bottle  is  obtained.  Of 
course  most  of  it  is  vin  de  cargaison,  flavored  and  perfumed;  some  of  it,  such  as  that 
marked  "  Paysan,"  is  probably  some  of  the  cheapest  and  poorest  vin  ordinaire.  A 
small  part  marked  "vin  rouge,"  may  also  be  of  the  cheapest  genuine  vins  ordinaires. 
All  those  labeled  "Chateau  Larose,"  etc.,  are  frauds,  and  the  bottles,  if  they  contain 
wines  which  have  apparently  fine  body,  flavor  and  bouquet,  are  manufactured  imitations. 
The  only  genuine  Chateau  Lafitte,  Latour  and  Larose,  in  bottle,  are  quoted  in  the 
"  Prices  Current"  at  Bordeaux,  at  from  five  to  ten  francs  ($1  to  $2)  per  bottle,  while 
those  so  labeled  above  are  mostly  less  than  fifteen  cents! 

The  duty  on  bottled  wine  is  $1  60  per  case,  or  13i  cents  per  bottle;  hence  the 
'  wine  above,  adding  duty  and  transportation,  costs  the  trade  at  the  ports  of  entry  about 
30  cents  a  bottle,  or  less  than  40  cents  for  the  highest  in  the  list. 


io6 

B.     Red  wines  in  bottle,  valued  at  more  than  twenty  and  not  more  than  forty  cents 
per  bottle : 

Value  in 
Pints,  Quarts,  U.S  Monoy. 

Chateaux  IMargaux 336  $107 

Chateau  Lafitte-Vieux 300  110 

Chateau  Larose 600  160 

Chateau  Larose COO  ...  75 

Gruau-Larose 1,188  396 

"     1,176  ,.,  283 

''     588  184 

Chateau  Talbot 1,200  320 

"     1,800  ....  307 

Red  Wine,  INIedoc,  St.  Estephe,  St.  Emilion,  Mont- 
lerrand,  St.  Julien,  Milan,  Pauillac,  Chateau- 
•     Paysanne,    Maison-Blanche,    Chateau-Bonne- 
son,  St.  Loubes,  Chateau  de  France,  Chateau- 
Germainville,  Chateau-Marbuset,  Chateau  de 

L'ysle,  M(§doc 5,364  11,040  3,711 

Totals 8,940  15,252  $5,593 

The  above — equal  to  19,722  full  bottles — have  an  average  value  of  about  28 
cents  per  bottle.  All  the  Chateaux  Margcaux,  Lafitte,  Larose  and  Talbot  are  fraudu- 
lently labeled — genuine  wines  of  those  high  classes  being  quoted  at  Bordeaux  at  from 
5  to  10  francs  a  bottle.  The  others,  grouped  together,  are  probably  more  or  les3 
genuine,  though  some  of  the  names  I  cannot  find  in  the  lists  of  vineyards.  "Chateau 
Lafitte  vieux"  is  a  stupid  label,  and  can  only  deceive  the  novice  in  wine-drinking,  for 
genuine  Lafitte  is  sold  according  to  the  year  of  the  vintage,  which  determines  whether 
it  is  vieux  (old)  or  not. 

C.  Red  wines  in  bottle,  valued  at  more  than  40  and  less  than  60  cents  per  quart 
bottle; 

Value  in 
Bottles.  U.  S.  Money. 

Chateau  Lafitte 60  $30 

Chateau  Lafitte 300  110 

Chateau  Margaux 60  30 

Chateau  Leoville ' 144  96 

Chateau  Dillon 900  375 

Totals 1,464  $641 

This  small  group  shows  an  average  value  of  44  cents  per  bottle;  but  it  is  re- 
markable that  as  the  wine  in  bottle,  as  well  as  the  wine  in  cask,  ascends  in  valu3  to- 
ward prices  of  genuine  fine  wines,  the  quantity  becomes  exceedingly  small  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantities  of  such  wines,  supposed  to  be  consumed.  The  Lafitte  and 
Margaux  in  this  list  are  unquestionably  falsely  labeled,  and  so  are  probably  the  Leo- 
ville and  Dillon;  but  as  to  the  latter  I  cannot  say  certainly,  because  it  is  possible  that 
some  of  the  recent  new  wine,  since  1874,  which  is  not  of  usual  fine  quality  generally, 
may  have  been  bottled  at  prices  cheaper  than  the  market  reports.  ' 

D.  Red  wines  in  bottle,  all,  probably,  true  to  label; 


107 

FINEST    MEDOC    CLASSED    WINES 

Vaiue  in  U . 
Bottles.  S.  Money 

Chateau  Lafitte  of  '68,  '74  and  75   G28  $942 

Chateau  Latour 36  90 

Chateau  Margaux  of  '68,  75,  etc 264  620 

Branne-Mouton 48  52 

Chateau  Leoville 168  184 

Chateau  Larose .- 168  192 

Chateau  Calon-Zegur 48  60 

Saint  Pierre 48  32 

Pontet-Canet 24  17 

Cantemerle 72  36 

MEDOC    BOURGEOIS    SUPERIEURS. 

Chateau  Poujeaux,  Moulis 48  24 

Chateau  Beausite,  St.  Est6phe,  '65 180  108 

Chateau  Pomeys,  MouHs 60  43 

MEDOC    ORDINAIRES. 

St.  Julien,  1870 280  127 

St.  Juhen,  1874 2,400  676 

St.  Juhen 72  30 

Mecloc 12  11 

GRAVES    CLASSED    WINE. 

Chateau  Haut-Brion,  1874 280  340 

GRAVES    BOURGEOIS    SUPERIEUR. 

Haut-Brion  Larrivet,  1865 240  192 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Torquay-Lalande , 120  40 

Moncaillou 24  24 

Red  Wine 144  178 

Totals 5,372  1^4.  COS 

The  prices  in  the  preceding  table  speak  for  themselves.  The  wines  seem  to 
have  been  ordered  systematically,  so  as  to  furnish  samples  of  the  five  Isf  crus,  Supe- 
rior Bourgeois  and  ordinary  wines  of  the  Medoc,  and  equal  samples  of  the  Graves 
section.  They  are,  however,  collated  from  a  number  of  different  invoices.  But  out 
of  all  the  bottled  wine  shipped  from  Bordeaux,  this  is  a  very  small  showing  of  "line," 
high-classed  wines.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  supply  the  table  of  ten  rich  connoisseurs 
during  the  year.  Where,  then,  are  the  high-priced  wines  to  be  found  among  these 
invoices  to  account  for  the  labels  used  so  freely  everywhere  .'' 

I  have  finished  ihe  red  Bordeaux  wines  exported  during  the  year  ending  Sep- 
tember 'JOlh,  1878.  It  has  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  labor  to  make  the  analysis,  which 
I  have  done  honestly  and  fairly.  I  ask  my  readers  whether  they  are  not  now  satisfied 
that  all  the  talk  of  the  ordinary  wine-drinker,  who  prates  about  Chateau  Maruaux, 
Chateau  Larose,  his  fine  St.  Julien,  is  not  a  proof  of  a  grand  illusion,  created  by  the 
frauds  of  trade;  and  whether,  also,  I  am  not  right  in  sa\ing  that,  not\vithstan(;Jing 
labels  and  fancy  names,  the  people  only  get  vin  ordinaire^  or  worse,  to  drink,  and  thai 
if  they  drink  imported  wines,  they  should  call  them  by  their  right  names  and  demand 
them  at  cheap  prices. 


io8 

BORDEAUX    WHITE    WINES. 

Is/ —  W/ii/e    Wines  in  wood. 

The  white  wines  shipped  in  wood,  were  as  follows : 

Vnluo  in  U. 
,T.      ^,  Gnllc.  B.  Money. 

Vm  Blanc 1,260  $500 

Barsac 120  75 

Chalcau    Poniac ,. 30  5G 

Totals 1,410  $631 

This  preceding  lot  shows  an  average  of  a  little  more  than  40  cents  a  gallon ; 
only  the  last  item  being  high  priced. 

Id— White    Wines  in  bottle. 

.    A.     White  wines  in  bottle  valued  at  less  than  40  cents  a  bottle  : 

Bottlos.  Value. 

Vin  Blanc 2,964  $533 

Graves 1,800  240 

Haut-Sautcrncs 4,728  1,481 

Sauterne,  '09 GuO  150 

Preignac    300  113 

Barsac ...     144  36 

Simullac 120  42 

Chateau  Vigncau 120  40 

Totals 10,776  $2,634 

This  preceding  quantity  (pints  being  reduced  to  quarts  for  convenience)  shows 
an  average  price  of  24  cents  a  bottle  in  Bordeaux. 

B.     White  wines  in  bottle,  valued  at  more  than  40  cents  per  bottle  : 

Bottles.  Values. 

Chateau  Yquem 724  $    610 

Haut-Sauternes 600  250 

Chablis   360  250 

Vin  Blanc 600  274 

Totals 2,284  $1,384 

These  few  bottles  of  high-priced  white  wines  are  all  that  the  invoices  show  for 

the  year. 

3d — Burgundy  Wines. 
There  were  a  small  quantity  of  Burgundy  red  wines  shipped,  as  follows  : 

Bottles.  Values. 

Burgundy 540  $300 

Chambei tin 264  182 

Beaune,  Pomard,  Corton,  Romance,  Bichebourg 120  83 

Totals 924  $565 

4//; — Champagnes. 

There  were  also  exported  to  San  Francisco  302  cases  of  champagnes  (quarts), 
and  51  cases  of  pints.  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  them,  for  I  have  hid  no  time  to  inves- 
tigate their  merits  It  is  probable  that  few  of  them  were  produced  in  the  champagne 
district.  There  arc  champagne  houses  in  the  Charente  (cognac  district)  and  other 
places  near  Bordeaux. 


log 


THE    BORDEAUX    OFFTCIAr,  STATISTICS. 

The  entire  cxportations  of  wines  and  spirits  from   Bordeaux,  as  shown  by  the 

French  customs  records,  for  1877,  and  the  first  nine  months  of  1878,  arc  shown  in 

Hires,  as  follows : 

Gironde  (Bordeaux)  Wines  in  Wood. 

0  mos.  of 

1878.  1877. 

To  Atlantic  ports 2,243,464  3,8G1,882 

To  Pacific  Coast 936,171  841,730 

To  all  countries 77,839,845  113,064,692 

Gironde  Wines  in  Bottle. 

To  Atlantic  ports 306.432  433,272 

To  Pacific  Coast 42,416  113,906 

To  all  countries 8,060,844  9,795,450 

Wines  of  Other  Districts  in  Wood. 

To  Atlantic  ports None  recorded  220 

To  Pacific  Coast None  recorded  1,200 

To  all  countries 496,034  741,877 

Wines  of  Other  Districts  in  Bottle. 

To  all  countries 20,984  22,767 

Liqueur  Wines  in  Wood. 

To  Atlantic  ports 36  330 

To  Pacific  Coast i 15  10,530 

To  all  countries 273,449  134,500 

Liqueur  Wines  in  Bottle. 

To  Atlantic  ports 1,025  12,414 

To  Pacific  Coast 9,649  23,529 

To  all  countries 300,594  637,367 

Brandy  in  Wood. 

To  Atlantic  ports 179,088  200,964 

To  Pacific  Coast 19,395  58.578 

To  all  countries 1,947,990  3,344,504 

Brandy  in  Bottle. 

To  Atlantic  ports 36,770  86,324 

To  Pacific  Coast 12,136  10,536 

To  all  countries 2,127,556  2,868,666 

Rum. 

To  Atlantic  ports 156  278 

To  Pacific  Coast 667 

To  all  countries 162,770  290,742 

Eaux-de-vie  autres,  Absinthe,  Imitation  Kirsch,  Gift,  etc. 

To  Atlantic  ports 343  12,622 

To  Pacific  Coast 15,667  3,440 

To  all  countries 185,722  233,877 

Esprits-de-toute  sorte. 

To  Atlantic  ports 343  12,622 

To  Pacific  Coabt 15,667  3,4-10 

To  all  countries 185,722  233.877 


110 

Liqueurs. 

To  Atlantic  ports 10,111  21,503 

To  Pacific  Coast ....  30,035  26,405 

To  all  countries 1,151,855  1,318^555 

These  official  statements,  together  with  many  more  which  I  shall  not  have  room 
to  publish  now,  were  prepared  for  me  in  tabular  form  by  one  of  the  clerks  in  the 
Bordeaux  Custom  House. 

The  columns  under  the  head  of  "  Special  Commerce,"  which  I  do  not  repro- 
duce, show  that  all  the  wines,  brandies  and  rum  exported  to  the  United  States  (fig- 
ures given  above — "  Pacific  Coast,"  meaning  simply  San  Francisco),  were  either  pro- 
duced in  France  or  had  become  nationalized  by  payment  of  duty. 

All  the  eaux-de-vie  aiitres,  which  include  all  alcoholic  beverages  excepting  the 
rum,  brandy  and  genuine  Kirsch,  are  shown  to  have  been  prepared  from  foreign  alco- 
hols, or  spirits,  excepting  five  Hires  to  Atlantic  ports  in  1877,  probably  a  present  to 
some  American  Captain,  The  consumers  of  such  drinks  in  ths  United  States  may 
know,  therefore,  that  they  are  paying  tribute  to  German,  Belgian  and  other  distiller- 
ies, and  are  indebted  to  France  only  for  the  manipulation  in  th3  bonded  warehouse. 
.  In  1877,  about  one-half  the  liqueurs  were  of  French  origin  ;  this  year,  only  one- 
tenth  to  San  Francisco,  and  less  than  one-third  to  Atlantic  ports,  were  French. 

All  these  statistics  tend  to  show  that  France,  as  an  exporter  of  spirits  and 
liqueurs,  is  becoming  only  a  medium  and  manipulator  of  foreign  alcohols. 

The  importations  of  wines,  spirits,  etc.,  have  increased  at  Bordeaux,  while  the 
exporta'.ions  have  decreased  in  nearly  all  respects.  This,  again,  shows  that  the  pro- 
duction of  France  is  not  equal  to  horhe  consumption  ai^d  foreign  trade,  and  that, 
even  to  keep  up  the  present  trade,  France  is  forced  to  be  satisfied  with  manipulating 
foreign  products  and  selling  "  etiquettes"  to  label  them  with  in  the  places  to  which 
they  are  exported.  The  rage  for  French  fashions  and  names  has  resulted  in  making 
France  the  world's  grand  social  and  commercial  decorator.  Among  the  cxportations 
for  1877  were  G8,432  kilogrammes  (150,550  pounds)  of  "  etiquettes"  ("printed,  en- 
graved, or  colored"),  of  which  1850  kilos  (4,070  pounds),  went  to  the  United  States. 
She  also  exported  to  the  United  States  179,047  empty  bottles;  and  to  "all  countries" 
13,899,411.  The  proposed  treaty,  removing  the  increased  duty  on  bottled  wine, 
would  increase  the  bottles  annually  shipped  to  the  United  States  about  six  millions, 
and  take  so  much  away  from  the  American  industries,  and  add,  also,  to  French  in- 
dustry the  profits  of  filling,  corking  and  packing. 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  importations,  in  litres,  at  Bordeaux,  for  1877. 
and  the  first  nine  months  of  1878  : 

Wines  in  Wood. 

0  mo''.  oi 

1S78.  1677. 

From  Italy 5^282  30,903 

From  Spain 9,330,084  4,006,409 

From  Portugal 254,000  2,399,700 

From  all  countries 9,018,114  7,125,038 

Wines  in  Bottle. 
From  all  countries 130,102  28  738 

Liqueur  Wines  in  Wood. 

From  Spain 501,892  349,314 

From  all  countries 081,390  607,195 


Ill 

Liqtuur  Wines  in  Bottle. 

From  all  countries 67,513  110,293 

Brandy — From  all  countries 64,207  62013 

Rum — From  all  countries,  IMartinique  and  Guadalupe 

furnishing  nearly  all 2,521,680  3,212,432 

Eaux-de-vie-auires  — Principally    from    Germany    and 

Holland,  from  all  countries 168, 834  239  463 

Alcohols — Principally   from   Germany   and    Belgium, 

from  all  countries 2,430,905  2,459,972 

Liqueurs — From  all  countries Ill  540  131  815 

The  tables  of  "Special  Commerce  "  show  that  nearly  all  the  wines  and  rum  paid 
duty,  and  that  nearly  all  the  eaux-de-vie-autres ,  brandy  and  liqueurs  were  re-exported. 
In  1877  about  two-thirds,  and  in  this  year  nearly  the  full  amount  of  alcohols,  were 
entered  for  consumption  ;  but  duties  may  be  .remitted  when  re-exported,  and,  per- 
haps, at  the  end  of  this  year  the  amount  apparently  consumed  may  not  be  so  great. 
The  spirit  trade,  however,  shows,  as  well  as  the  wine,  decreased  capacity  in  French 
production  or  an  increased  home  consumption,  and  less  ability  to  supply  foreign  mar- 
kets with  genuine  French  products. 

IN    CONCLUSION 

Of  this  longIetter,which,  beside  the  time  expended  in  procuring  original  inforrr^aiii/n  and 
statis'ics,  has  occupied  my  time  for  three  whole  days,  I  have  only  time  to  ;;.iv  of  thj 
character  of  wines  shipped  to  the  Atlantic  ports,  that  the  New  Orleans  invoices  com- 
pare very  evenly  with  those  for  San  Francisco,  which  I  have  analyzed  and  arranged  in 
condensed  form;  the  marks  or  brands,  however,  being  invented  generally  to  suit  the 
fancies  of  consumers,  vary  considerably.  The  wines  to  New  York  appear  to  average 
a  little  higher  in  price,  but  I  cannot  say  certainly,  without  making  an  exhaustive 
analysis  ;  there  are  many  more  names  used  as  brands.  The  San  Francisco  trade  can, 
however,  be  accepted  as  a  sufficiently  fair  illustration  of  the  general  facts,  with  this 
exception,  that  there  are  now  so  many  fine  California  wines  which  jobbers  paSo  under 
French  labels,  that  there  is  less  demand  for  French  bottled  wine  than  in  other  parts 
of  the  country. 

The  "  Montferrand  "  wines,  which  figure  so  largely  in  the  shipments  to  San 
Francisco,  take  their  name  from  the  Commune  of  Monlfcrrand,  which  furnishes  the 
second  grade  of  wines  of  the  Palus,  or  river  bottoms.  They  are  used  in  Bordeaux, 
♦  on  account  of  their  color  and  strength,  in  ^x(ii^-xx'\x\'^  coiipages  oxvins  de  cargaison,  and 
no  doubt  are  shipped  also  to  supply  a  similar  demand  elsewhere,  in  which  case  they 
are  no  doubt  highly  fortified  with  alcohol,  as  a  basis  for  further  manipulation.  They 
are  considered  among  the  poorest  wines  of  Bordeaux  [petits  vins).  IMr.  Franck,  in 
his  work  on  Bordeaux  wines,  which  is  standard  authority,  says  of  them  :  "They im- 
prove at  sea,  but  require,  when  not  exported,  six  or  seven  years  of  rest  in  barrels 
before  being  good  to  drink."  In  F6ret's  work — "Bordeaux  et  ses  vins "■—'.:. iZ  latest 
and  be^^t  of  all,  I  find  the  following  statement  under  the  head  of  "  Monileirand  :" 

"  Vins  rouges,  produced  by  two-fifths  verdot,  one-fifth  mancin,  one-fifth  cabernet 
and  bequignot,  one-fifth  colon,  and  other  varieties  of  vines,  highly  colored,  possessing 
a  peculiar  flavor,  which  causes  them  to  be  sought  for  as  vtns  d'operation  (wines  for 
operating  with).  They  are  also  considered  as  the  best  ordinaires  of  the  Entre-deux 
Mers,  and  zs  premihe  cargaison."  However,  there  is  about  as  much  "  I\Iontferrand  " 
shipped  to  the  United  States  alone  as  the  production  of  the  entire  commune.     There  is 


112 


a  Chateau  !\Tontfcrrand  in  the  commune  which  produces  1,000  barrels,  but  the  quality 
is  not  better  than  the  average  of  all  the  producerc.  The  "Prices  Current"  quote 
'•Montlerrand"  at  prices  50  per  cent,  higher  than  the  values  given  in  the  American 
invoices,  which  indicates  that  it  has  all  been  "operated"  before  exportation. 

The  Lezignan  wine  is  probably  a  <r<??//>a^^  of  dark  red  wine  from  Lezignan  in  the 
Midi  with  a  cheap  Bordeaux  white  wine,  such  as  I  have  described  in  a  letter  written  in 
July,  from  Paris.  I  shcmld  say,  however,  that  the  prices  given  there  for  the  raw  material 
of  vins  de  cargaison  especially  of  the  coloring  wines,  have  advanced;  hence  the  price 
of  th:;  compounds  is  greater. 

I  shall  have  some  interesting  facts,  concerning  the  general  condition  of  French 
commerce,  to  give  in  my  next  letter.  C.  A.  W. 


How  A^ierican  Industries  are  viewed  from  the  French 
standpoint;  Report  of  the  French  Senatorial  Com- 
mission concerning  the  causes  of  the  Sufferings  of 
Industry  and  Commerce. 

Paris,  November  28th,  1878. — A  visit  to  the  champagne  district  has  interrupted 
the  course  of  my  correspondence,  which  I  will  not  continue,  devoting  this  letter  to 
questions  concerning  the  general  condition  of  French  commerce  and  industry. 

THE    MOVEMENT    IN    BEHALF    OF    A    COMMERCIAL   TREATV 

With  the  United  States,  which  has  been  inaugurated  in  the  interest  of  a  certain  class 
of  French  exporters,  is  a  beautiful  j-^yZ-soap  bubble  blown  from  the  imaginations  of  a 
few,  who  are  blinded  by  self-interest,  aided  by  a  few  sentimentalists.  At  first  it  had 
the  appearance  of  a  fraternal  offer  of  embrace,  coming  from  the  Republic  of  France  to 
the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  and  caught  in  its  grasp  unwary  Americans,  who  were 
flattered  by  being  invited  to  take  part  in  the  effort  to  "  benefit  the  United  States," 
and  all  the  world  besides.  No  one  seemed  for  a  moment  to  consider  why  it  was  that 
Frenchmen  could  afford  to  travel,  apparently  at  their  own  expense,  over  our  great 
country,  bringing  us  offers  of  prosperity  and  trade.  In  our  distressed  condition, 
which  was  and  still  is  more  fancied  than  real,  it  was  easy  for  our  people  to  fall  into 
the  error  of  thinking  that  France  was  volunteering  to  help  us.  Many  of  us  forgot  to 
"  fear  the  Greeks,  bearing  gifts." 

Notwithstanding  all  their  merits,  the  French  cannot  be  considered  generous. 
They  have  the  happy  faculty  of  always  antagonizing  French  pride,  or  prejudice,  and 
French  industries  against  all  the  world;  and  they  know  how  to  sow  a  field  with  flatter)', 
and  to  reap  a  harvest  of  profit.  Yet  they  are  so  honest  and  self-satisfied  among  them- 
selves that  they  do  not  attempt  to  conceal  the  evidences  of  their  true  motives.  There- 
fore, it  is  not  at  all  dillicult  to  prick  the  grand  commercial  bubbles,  that  their  over- 
anxious manipulators  blow  upon  the  surface  of  the  world,  with  their  own  assertions. 

Pulling  wool  over  the  eyes  of  the  world — the  art  of  being  honest,  and  at  the 
same  time  blinding  the  world  to  what  is  plainly  true  and  admitted — is  peculiarly  a 
French  art,  and  one  not  to  be  despised.  The  demand  of  the  cafe  courtizane,  who  re- 
bukes the  susceptible  traveler  because  he  objects  to  paying  bills  and  purchasing  all 
sorts  of  trinkets  oa  first  acquaintance,  by  saying,  " Voui  n'eki pas gcrUil"  is  only  one 


113 

indication,  in  a  low  form,  of  a  national  characteristic,  which  is  especially  marked  by  its 
adroitness  in  making  people  ashamed  to  resist  interested  advances.  But  of  one  thin^ 
the  people  of  the  United  States  should  be  certain — the  French  people  are  not  such  fools 
that  they  will  send  agents  to  us  to  work  in  the  interests  of  American  industries,  which 
are  rival  to  their  own.  The  movement  for  a  commercial  treaty  springs  from  the  fact 
that  the  United  States  commerce  is  feared,  and  needs  to  be  repressed  in  order  to  save 
French  interests.  The  French  have  become  so  accustomed  to  extravagance,  such  as 
would  create  revolutions  in  America — to  the  support  of  armies  of  tax-gatherers,  who 
collect  the  means  to  conduct  displays,  build  palaces,  pave  and  light  boulevards — that 
they  cannot  think  patiently  of  the  necessity  of  a  little  national  economy.  They  must 
sell  more  luxuries,  or  imitations  of  luxuries,  to  the  outside  world,  in  order  to  sustain 
luxury  at  home  ;  hence  the  frantic  efforts  of  a  few  organized  manufacturers  to  revive 
a  commerce  which  is  becoming  exhausted  by  inutility,  or  by  foreign  competition. 

For  many  things  I  have  reason  to  feel  kindl}'  toward  the  French  people,  but 
French  dinners,  wines  and  politeness,  covering  a  determined  effort  to  repress  our 
growing  commerce,  are  not  sufficient  reasons  for  abandoning  the  hard-earned  advan- 
tages which  American  labor  has  achieved.  I  have  little  respect  for  Americans  who 
are  humbugged,  by  social  flatteries  and  red  ribbons,  into  abandoning  the  interests  of 
their  own  people.  Dinners,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  are  only  worth  dinners  in 
return,  or  polite  thanks  ;  politeness  is  worth  its  weight  in  itself.  Courtesy,  generosity 
and  benevolence  are  things  to  be  considered  differently,  and  mere  spasmodic  enthusi- 
astic demonstrations  must  be  distinguished  from  general  and  reliable  characteristics- 

If  the  inside  history  of  the  humbugging,  to  which  a  lot  of  good-natured,  genial, 
easy-going  Americans,  who  have  suffered  themselves  to  fall  into  this  new  treaty 
business,  have  submitted  rather  than  to  be  impolite,  were  written,  it  would  not  reflect 
much  credit  upon  the  sagacity  of  the  ordinary  American  traveler. 

It  is  time  that  our  people  should  comprehend  the  fact  that  to-day  there  is  only 
one  nation  in  the  world  greatly  feared  by  the  commercial  powers,  and  that  is  the 
United  States.  It  requires  a  view  of  the  country  from  this  side  of  the  ocean  to  realize 
the  true  situation  and  to  inspire  the  American  with  a  perfect  faith  that  in  a  few  years 
our  people  will  become  the  richest  and  most  prosperous  that  has  ever  existed.  The 
wall  of  protection  which  has  been  erected  around  American  industries,  is  now  like 
the  dam  of  a  mighty  river,  full  and  running  over.  The  commerce  of  the  world,  that 
has  heretofore  fattened  on  our  trade,  is  now  trembling  before  the  coming  flood. 
These  proposed  commercial  treaties  are  only  insidious  and  undisguised  efforts  to  un- 
dermine the  dam  and  dissipate  the  collected  force  behind  it. 

While  our  people  are  talking  about  "  hard  times,"  the  transition  from  the  import 
to  the  export  trade  is  taking  place,  money  is  pouring  into  our  land  from  all  countries, 
securities  are  coming  back — being  paid  for  by  the  excess  of  our  own  products  of  labor 
— and  our  nation  is  beginning  to  reap  the  harvest  to  which  freedom,  generosity  to  the 
poor  of  all  the  world,  and  intelligent  protection  of  our  workingmen  entitle  us.  With- 
out such  prosperity  and  such  commerce,  we  could  never  pay  our  railroad,  State  and 
national  debts.  The  present  "  crisis  "  is  the  real  triumph  of  the  American  working- 
man,  which  temporarily  distresses  him  by  reason  of  the  demoralization  of  trade  cen- 
tres, just  as  California  trade  was  demoralized  for  awhile  by  the  completion  of  the 
Pacific  railroads.  The  nation  must  simply  be  firm,  and  see  that  the  people  arc  repaid 
for  the  sacrifices  they  have  made  in  building  a  nation  out  of  a  wilderness, 


114 

This  is  not  a  proper  subject  for  sentimentalism.  We  cannot  afford  to  be  gener- 
ous with  nations  that  never  have  been,  and  never  will  be,  to  us,  so  far  as  commerce 
is  concerned.  If  industry  in  America  is  active,  intelligent  and  leading,  it  has  as  much 
right  to  its  reward  as  the  banker  has  to  his  bonds.  The  rights  of  superiority  must  be 
respected  unless  Communism  prevails  throughout  the  world.  Individuals  can  afford, 
in  well  regulated  countries,  to  act  on  principles  of  abstract  rights,  but  nations  must 
fight  for  themselves,  just  as  the  individual  has  to  fight  in  the  woods,  because  nations, 
commercially,  are  not  friendly,  though  some  may  be  weak  and  tamely  submit  to 
others.  The  free  trade  doctrine  would  to-day  deliberately  rob  our  own  citizens  of  the 
rights  of  properly  which  have  been  built  up  under  a  protection  policy  against  the  op- 
position of  all  the  great  nations.  We  may  be  able  to  change  our  tariff  by  and  by,  but 
we  should  not  while  we  are  in  the  heat  of  batde  of  commercial  rivalry.  We  have  no 
time  to  "  swap  horses  while  crossing  the  stream." 

I  am  surprised  that  the  foreign  correspondents  to  the  American  press  have  neg- 
lected, until  recently,  to  notice  fully  from  time  to  time  the  important  questions  which 
our  growing  commerce  has  caused  to  be  agitated  in  Europe,  especially  in  England 
and  France.  If  our  people  could  see  themselves  as  they  are  seen  and  watched  from 
this  side,  there  would  be  no  more  talk  about  want  of  confidence  in  business,  or  dis- 
tress among  workingmen. 

A  few  weeks  ago  one  of  the  leading  bankers  in  Paris,  connected  with  American 
finances,  called  upon  one  of  our  intelligent  citizens,  and  said:  'T  want  to  have  a  talk 
with  you  about  the  United  States.  In  our  position,  bankers  can  feel,  more  than  all 
others,  the  extraordinarj'  movement  of  money,  which  is  taking  place  in  favor  of  the 
United  States.  We  all  feel  that,  in  a  few  years,  the  States  will  be  the  richest  and  most 
prosperous  country  in  the  world.  The  changes  taking  place  are  startling  to  those  who 
have  an  opportunity  to  know  them  best." 

THE  VERDICT  OF  THE  FRENCH  SENATORIAL  COMMISSION  OF  INQUIRY. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1877,  the  French  Senate  adopted  a  resolution  provid- 
ing for  the  appointment  of  a  Commission  of  eighteen  members,  to  investigate  "the 
causes  to  which  may  be  attributed  the  sufferings  of  commerce  and  industry',  and  to 
suggest  remedies."  The  first  meeting  was  held  on  the  4th  of  December  following, 
and  the  inquiries  were  continued  until  the  2d  of  last  April,  when  the  testimony  taken 
for  publication  was  closed. 

I  have  obtained  a  copy  of  the  reports  of  the  meedngs,  including  the  letters  from  the 
various  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  France,  and  the  report  of  the  Commissioners, 
based  upon  the  evidence  before  them. 

The  general  impression  which  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  results  of  this  invesd- 
gation  is,  that  before  long  the  great  commercial  nations  of  Europe  will  be  obliged  to 
put  up  a  wall  of  protection  against  American  imports,  instead  of  pushing  free  trade 
doctrines.  What  they  fear  most  is  the  competition  of  our  exportations  in  the  markets 
which  they  have  heretofore  controlled,  but  they  are  concerned  also  very  seriously  in 
protecting  their  liome  markets.  I  will,  as  soon  as  I  have  time,  furnish  extended  trans- 
ladons  and  extracts  from  French  and  British  reports  on  this  subject,  all  of  which  will 
turn  on  the  question  of  the  alarm  created  by  the  industry  of  the  United  States  ;  but  in 
this  letter  I  will  only  attempt  to  collect  brief  extracts,  to  illustrate  what  I  have  already 
written.         »***♦»♦**♦** 


115 

NO  BELIEF  IN  FREE  TRADE. 

This  is  the  refrain  which  comes  up  from  nearly  all  the  industrial  centres  of 
Fiance.  A  few  only  preach  free  trade  in  the  form  of  special  treaties  of  commerce,  in 
the  hope  of  breaking  down  some  of  the  threatened  competition,  and  to  keep  markets 
open  to  them,  which  protection  reserves  for  the  benefit  of  local  industries.        *         * 

The  field  for  the  competition  of  rival  industrial  nations  is  in  the  countries  which  do 
not  excel  in  industry.  That  is  why  England  is  so  great ;  she  seizes  upon  undeveloped 
colonial,  semi-barbarous,  and  barbarous  trade.  It  is  in  that  field  that  the  United 
States  must  compete  for  markets — South  America,  Africa,  the  Orient,  China.  Italy 
may  be  a  better  market  for  us  than  France,  because  we  are  not  rivals.  Rivals  will 
surely  protect  their  home  markets  as  soon  as  they  are  seriously  threatened,  and  that 
is  what  France  will  do  and  what  she  now  threatens,  notwithstanding  the  insane  talk  of 
a  few  enthusiasts,  who  imagine  that  the  United  States  can  be  humbugged  into  aban- 
doning all  rivalry. 

After  all,  however,  the  first  necessity  is  the  protection  of  home  industry,  so  that 
a  nation  may  be  as  nearly  self-supporting  as  possible  ;  the  rivalry  is  of  secondary  im- 
portance and  often  dangerous.  The  Flers  delegates  said  :  "  Wherever  industies  have 
been  established  and  have  prospered,  they  have  produced  the  greatest  possible  advan- 
tages for  their  workmen.  The  ruin  of  these  industries  would  be,  therefore,  ver)'  pre- 
judicial to  workmen  and  to  agriculture.  Why  suppress  the  work  of  these  workmen  to 
give  it  to  American  workmen,  or  ethers.''  Will  foreign  workmen  ever  be  consumers 
of  the  products  of  our  soil  and  of  our  divers  industries,  as  the  French  workmen 
are?  *  *  *  When  the  treaties  of  1860  were  made,  they  were  not  in- 
tended to  destroy  industries.  It  was  hoped,  on  the  contrary,  that  a  great  prosperity 
would  follow  in  the  near  future.  *  *  *  "Yen  years  afierwards  these 
promises  were  not  fulfilled.  Industry,  far  from  being  prosperous,  was  very  unfortu- 
nate, and,  on  the  occasion  of  the  investigation  which  took  place  at  the  end  of  1869, 
Mr.  Forcade,  of  La  Roquette,  a  strong  partisan  for  free  trade,  and  one  of  the  origin- 
ators of  the  Treaty  of  1860,  agreed  that  the  cotton  industry  was  not  sufficiently  pro- 
tected, and  that  there  was  something  to  do."' 

These  remarks  are  precisely  apropos  to  the  United  States,  with  slight  alterations, 
in  case  the  proposed  treaty  with  France  should  be  seriously  considered.  We  are 
asked  to  abandon  our  silk,  leather,  wine,  glass  bottle,  and  other  industries  in  favor  of 
French  workmen,  and  to  take,  in  exchange  for  our  good  wheat,  beef  and  crude  pe- 
troleum, rot-gut  spirits,  adulterated  wines  and  French  silks.  We  had  better  produce 
our  own  pure  wines,  manufacture  our  silks  and  give  our  wheat  and  beef  to  nourish 
the  American  workmen,  who  produce  them,  and  our  petroleum  to  light  their  homes. 
This  is  the  true  principle  of  national  domestic  commerce,  and  is  the  sole  means  of 
national  strength.  Other  nations,  when  the  current  of  trade  begins  to  run  against 
them,  will  protect  themselves  against  foreign  attacks. 

Tlie  letter  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  St.  Etienne  says,  on  the  first  page: 
"  Indeed,  the  United  States  of  America,  having  imposed  prohibitive  tariffs  upon  all 
European  products.  American  industry-  itself  manufactures  to-day  the  iron,  cotton 
goods,  woolen  stuffs,  silks  and  ribbons,  which  that  country  used  to  demand  formerly 
from  France  and  England.''  St.  Etienne  is  interested  in  the  silk  trade  ;  hence,  is 
in  favor  of  supporting  existing  treaties.     The  letter  adds  :  "  We   demand  with  all 


Ii6 

our  force,  the  prompt  conclusion  of  treaties  of  commerce  with  all  the  European  na- 
tions, and,  if  possible,  with  the  United  States  of  America." 

The  letter  of  the  Committee  of  Normandy,  dated  at  Rouen,  shows  that  other 
nations  are  rapidly  becoming  protectionists,  and  will  force  France  to  imitate  them. 
Here,  however,  it  should  be  remarked  that  the  notion  of  free  trade  in  France  is  very  ■ 
confused.  They  have  no  real  free  trade  woith  speaking  of.  Certain  countries  have 
been  granted  special  privileges  ;  but  there  are  many  things  which  are  absolutely  pro- 
hibited from  importation,  and  the  internal  system  of  octroi  taxation  is  only  anoiher 
form  for  a  high  tariff,  which  injures  domestic  as  well  as  foreign  trade.  Each  city  is 
walled  in,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  by  a  special  tariff,  which  renders  free  circula- 
tion in  France  impossible,  even  for  her  own  products. 

The  Rouen  letter  is  very  exhaustive  and  interesting.  Under  the  third  heading, 
"England  Grappled  with  by  the  Industry  of  the  United  States,"  it  says  :  "  England 
has  come  to  swords'-points,  during  the  last  four  or  five  years — that  is,  since  the  en- 
quiry of  1870 — wiih  a  most  redoubtable  industrial  rival,  the  United  States,  built  up 
under  the  shelter  of  protection,  and  which  becomes  more  and  more  formidable.  All 
is  henceforward  transformed,  and  the  hour  is  not  distant,  if  it  has  not  yet  been 
sounded,  when  England  will  regret  having  developed  beyond  measure  her  man- 
ufacturing production.  Europe,  excepting  France,  shuts  the  door  against  her.  Let 
us  see  what  the  United  States  are  doing."  The.  letter  then  reviews  the  report  of  the 
British  Consul  at  New  York,  in  which  is  set  forth  that  Ameiican  exports  of  cotton 
goods  to  England  and  Scotland  increase  each  year,  and  imports  from  England  de- 
crease. The  Manchester  Courier  is  quoted,  showing  that  "  the  reports  of  our 
(British)  Consuls  from  many  other  countries  are  similar.  The  Ameiicans  drive  us 
out  of  their  markets,  and  come  to  compete  with  us  in  our  own.  They  are  not  con- 
tent wiih  sending  their  products  to  Liverpool,  but  they  compete  with  us  also  in  our 
colonies  and  dependencies."  The  article  quoted  enumerates  statistics  of  our  cotton 
exports,  and  adds  :  "  American  competition  affects  us  everywhere,  and  will  finish 
by  beating  us,  considering  that  their  exportations  of  cotton  products  have  increased 
regularly  since  1872.  The  result  of  this  competition  with  England  in  her  own  posses- 
sions is  no  longer  a  chimera  ;  it  is  an  established  fact."  The  letter  also  shows  that 
our  expons  of  cotton  goods  were  in  1872  valued  at  $2,304,330,  and  increased  rapidly 
to  $14,000,000  in  187G.  It  argues  that  the  result  of  this  competition  will  be  to  throw 
the  excess  of  British  goods  upon  the  French  market,  and  that  the  only  safety  for  the 
French  is  in  raising  their  tariff. 

Concerning  wines,  the  Rouen  letter  says  :  "  We  do  not  contest  the  fact  that  the 
wine  merchants  arc  making  active  movements  in  favor  of  free  trade.  *  *  * 
*  But,  yet,  what  can  viticulture  expect  from  England  in  respect  to  its  ex- 
portations.'"" It  is  shown,  then,  that  the  reduction  of  the  English  tariff  on  wines  has 
produced  no  great  advantages  to  France,  for  during  the  most  favorable  year  the  export 
to  England  has  not  surpassed  7,800,000  gallons,  much  less  than  the  annual  consump- 
tion of  a  French  city  of  200,000  inhabitants.  "The  end  pursued  by  the  viticultu- 
ri.-5ts,"  says  the  Rouen  Committee,  "is  therefore  chimerical.  France  is  their  best 
customer,  and  especially  industrial  France.  Viticulture  would  have  good  cause  to 
complain  if  this  customer  should  cease  to  work." 

How  powerful  the  last  rcir.ark  is  v>hc:a  applied  to  American  agriculture,  which 
sometimes  complains  against  the  protection  which  erublQS  American  workmen  to  coa». 
sumc  American  products  ! 


117 

These  remarks  on  viticulture  illustrate  the  position  of  this  industry  in  France,  as 
I  have  before  pictured  it.  French  consumption,  constantly  increasing,  renders  it 
impractical,  as  well  as  chimerical,  to  increase  largely  the  exportation  of  pure  natural 
wines.  The  demand  for  treaties,  however,  comes  more  from  a  desire  to  maintain  the 
commerce  in  cargo  wines  and  to  restrain  viticukure  in  our  own  country,  which  must 
inevitably  educate  our  people  to  prefer  pure  natural  products.  There  is  something  of 
jealousy  as  well  as  interest  involved  in  the  movement. 

The  sixth  paragraph  of  the  "  Resume"  cf  the  conclusions  in  the  Rouen  letter  is 
as  follows : 

"  That  England  is  everywhere  at  war  with  the  competition  of  the  cotton  industry 
of  the  United  States ;  that  she  sees  her  markets  diminished  throughout  the  whole 
world  ;  and  that,  throwing  herself  more  and  more  upon  France,  she  will  succeed  rap- 
idly in  ruining  our  national  production  if  some  remedy  is  not  adopted  quickly." 

The  seventh  paragraph  is  :  "That  French  agriculture  and  viticukure  cannot 
boast  of  the  results  of  the  treaties  of  commerce,  and  that  they  are  interested  really  in 
providing  that  industrial  labor  should  facilitate  the  consumption  of  their  products  in 
France." 

The  letter  from  the  Bordeaux  Chamber  of  Commerce,  inspired  by  the  able  Pres- 
ident, jNIons.  A.  Lalande,  of  whom  I  have  heretofore  written,  is  full  of  sophistries  in 
the  interest  of  the  Bordeaux  manufacturers  of  botdes,  false  labels,  and  vins  de  cargai- 
son.  It  begins,  as  all  the  communications  do,  with  attributing  the  principal  cause  of 
the  disturbance  in  Europe  to  the  United  St^ates,  which  offers  no  longer  a  colonial  mar- 
ket for  the  poorest  qualiiies  of  European  manufactures.  Then,  in  the  face  of  ih's 
showing,  it  calls  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States  an  " artificial"  one,  and  repeats 
the  stale  argument,  which  Mons.  Lalande  offered  to  me  while  I  was  in  Bordeaux,  that 
the  United  States  is  essentially  an  agricultural  country,  and  should  open  her  markets 
to  European,  and  especially  French,  workmen.  In  other  words,  the  desire  is  that  the 
United  States  should  consent  to  remain  in  the  colonial  condition,  and  depend  upon 
Europe  for  supplies  of  manufactured  goods.  It,  however,  naively  suggests  that  the 
United  States  is  beginning  to  see  the  error  of  her  ways,  and  is  considering  a  change 
of  tariffs  to  suit  the  demands  of  France.       *         *         *         *         *         C.  A.  W. 


Press  Opinions  ;    French  Consular  Reports  on   Wines  in 
America;  Other  Matters. 

Paris,  November  23d,  1878. — The  statements  in  my  la.st  letter  were. from  die 
highest  official  sources.  The  report  of  the  French  Commission  has  been  |Dublished, 
to  enlighten  the  French  people  upon  the  real  questions  which  Europe  has  been 
forced  to  face. 

THE  PRESS  HAS  BEEX  TEEMING 

With  comments  indicating  the  same  general  conception  of  the  situation.  I  will  con- 
tent myself  with  a  few  extracts  from  recent  issues,  which  I  have  accidcntly  seen 
anrl  preserved. 

******         ****** 

In  the  American  Register,  published  here  this  week,  the  third  of  a  series  (  f  arti- 
cles on  the  commercial  relations  of  the  United  States  is  published.  Concerning  the 
"  craze"  on  questions  of  free  trade  and  protection,  it  says: 


Its 

"The  Journal  des  Debats^  not  usually  given  to  sensational  articles,  has  again  de- 
voted to  the  prevailing  craze,  during  the  past  week,  no  less  than  three  columns. 
They  are  published  over  the  name  of  M.  P.  Leroy-Beaulieu,  who  is  the  co-proprietor 
of  a  prominent  financial  weekly  journal.  The  article  deals  at  the  outset  with  mere 
generalities,  and  the  confusion  of  ideas  is  so  great  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  follow  the 
writer.  But  it  seems  evident  that  the  notion  is  father  to  the  thought  that  all  nations, 
in  a  general  way,  and  the  United  States  in  particular,  owe  certain  duties  to  France  of 
no  less  import  than  to  purchase,  by  way  of  preference,  her  produce  and  manufac- 
tures. ]M.  Leroy  is  silent  on  the  subject  as  to  what  France  means  to  do  in  return. 
He  uses  strong  language;  he  is  very  graphic  after  a  fashion  of  his  own,  but  he  fails 

to  convince. 

************ 

"As  regards  the  United  States,  M.  Leroy  is  kind  enough  to  say  that  persuasive 
measures  will  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  subject  of  a  treaty.  But  woe  to  us  if  that 
does  not  produce  the  desired  effect.  In  case  of  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  why,  says  INI.  Leroy,  England  and  France  must  have  recourse  to  other  means 
than  mere  persuasion.  He  expresses  the  word  coercion  merely  by  way  of  implica- 
tion, and  in  the  meantime  desires  you  to  tremble  in  your  boots.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  days  he  promises  to  give  his  readers  an  expose  of  the  Commercial  Movement  with 
the  United  States,  which  will  tend  to  destroy  certain  '  illusions.'  The  sooner  M. 
Leroy  breaks  the  spell,  the  better  for  all  concerned.  His  own  arguments  can  only 
assist  to  prove,  if  indeed  assistance  were  required,  that  no  treaties  in  the  way  he  un- 
derstands them  are  of  any  avail;  nor  will  attempts  at  persuasion,  or  threats  of  coercion, 
have  the  tendency  to  turn  the  tide  that  has  set  in. 

"  It  has  been  fully  demonstrated  in  these  columns  that,  for  the  present,  the 
American  markets  are  closed  to  several  distinct  branches  of  European  industry,  and 
we  repeat  the  assertion — '  ?/  faut  en  /aire  son  deuil!  Manufacturers  have  had  fair 
warning  of  'breakers  ahead,'  but  they  refused  to  listen,  and  persisted  in  the  prevail- 
ing insanity.     They  have  now  to  deal  with  the  consequences. 

************ 

"  It  is  exceedingly  doubtful  that  M.  Leroy-Beaulieu  can  devise  means  to  pro- 
vide for  a  treaty  which  prevents  silk  or  woolen  manufacturers  to  overstock  the  American 
market  at  any  future  period.  Nor  can  we  believe  that  any  code  can  be  framed  to  prevent 
a  wine  merchant  from  shipping  vin  decargaison  in  bottles  labeled  'Chateau  Margaux.' 
The  exports  from  California  all  agree  to  this — that  at  no  very  distant  period  the  State 
of  California  will  outrank  ever}'  other  wine-growing  region  in  the  world.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  on  the  subject.  In  the  meantime,  we  are  importing  wines  from  Bor- 
deaux, but,  as  these  shipments  will  be  sooner  or  later  reduced  in  the  ratio  as  the 
development  of  vine-growing  in  California  increases,  it  will  be  instructive  to  inform 
Mr.  Leroy  of  the  reasons  why  the  American  people  prefer  home-grown  wines  rather 
than  continue  to  pay  high  rates  for  Bordeaux  wines. 

"  The  following  is  extracted  from  one  of  the  reports  of  the  United  States 
Consul  at  Bordeaux :  '  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  better  brands  of  wines  but  sel- 
dom find  their  way  to  our  market.  From  a  careful  revision  of  invoices  of  wines 
shipped  to  the  United  States,  I  find  that  in  general  they  range  among  the  vins  ordi- 
naires  and  de  cargaisoti,  i.  e.,  the  very  lowest  grades.'  To  this  we  may  add  that  bot- 
tles, corks,  straw  envelopes,  labels,  etc.,  are  separately  packed  up  in  cases,  and  the 
transformation  is  effected  after  passing  the  casks  through  the  Custom  House  at  the 


lig 

landing  place.  Nor  do  we  fare  better  in  regard  to  importations  of  brandies.  And 
here  again  we  must  quote  from  the  Consular  report,  which  runs  thus  :  '  IManv  con- 
siderations affecting  the  price  and  quality  of  brandies  can  be  pleaded  by  the  seller  so 
as  to  leave  the  determination  of  these  points  entirely  at  his  option,  and  the  American 
purchaser,  who  is  rarely  a  profound  expert,  is  often  the  victim  of  deception.  Certain 
Ic  is  that  American  dealers  have  been  accustomed  to  pay  for  the  older  grades  of 
brandy  prices  that  European  merchants  would  regard  simply  as  usurious.'  M.  Leroy- 
Beaulieu  must  admit  that  matters  of  this  nature  cannot  be  regulated  by  treaty  stipu- 
lations. And  yet  it  is  indisputable  that  they  have  acted  as  the  most  powerful  agent  in 
diminishing  exportation  from  France  to  the  United  States." 

In  the  matter  of  wines  and  spirits,  however,  it  is  not  so  much  the  fault  of  French 
merchants  as  of  American  retailers  that  poor  qualities  of  liquors  are  sold  under  false 
labels  at  high  prices.  The  American  consumer  demands  good  articles  and  pays  high 
prices;  but  the  commission  or  importing  house  can  sell  to  the  retailer  only  the  most 
inferior  stuff,  and  so  he  instructs  his  foreign  correspondent.  The  legitimate  dealers 
are  "licked  out"  of  our  market,  as  Mr.  Barnett,  of  Barnett  &  Sons,  said  to  me  in 
London,  adopting  an  American  expression  in  explaining  iheir  difficulties  with  our 
trade.  But,  so  far  as  the  consumer  is  concerned,  he  should  know  the  difference  be- 
tween goods  sent  as  consignments  and  those  imported  on  direct  order. 

THE  FRENXH  CONSULAR  REPORTS 

Are  now  published  in  serial  form.  Eleven  publications  were  issued  last  year  and 
seven,  up  to  date,  this  year,  all  of  which  I  have  obtained.  This  system  is  an  admir- 
able one.  In  the  United  States  we  get  annually  a  volume  of  "  Commercial  Rela- 
tions," which  is  so  delayed  that  the  information  contained  in  it  can  be  of  little  use 
to  our  merchants  and  producers. 

The  report  of  Mons.  A.  Forest,  the  intelligent  French  Consul  at  San  Francisco, 
published  this  year,  is  the  most  able  review  of  the  commerce  of  our  port  that  I  have 
seen.  These  French  reports  have  the  advantage  for  Frenchmen  of  being  made  in 
language  intelligible  to  them,  quantities  and  values  being  given  in  French  measures. 
Advice  is  also  freely  given  to  enable  French  merchants  to  know  how  to  take  advantage 
of  our  markets.  The  American  consular  reports  have,  however,  been  in  great  meas- 
ure hampered  by  the  interests  of  the  foreign  trade;  statistics  are  quoted  in  foreign 
measures,  and  advice  to  our  producers  is  given  very  cautiously,  if  at  all.  A  litdc 
generous  public  support  and  encouragement  would  soon  cause  our  Consuls  to  do  good 
work  for  us. 

Mons.  Forest,  in  his  report,  dated  San  Francisco,  March  10th,  1878,  to  the 
French  Government,  says: 

"The  wines  and  spirits  of  California,  v/hose  quality,  it  must  be  recognized,  has 
greatly  improved,  appear  to  be  more  and  more  liked  in  the  Eastern  States;  so  the  ex- 
portation to  those  sections  increases  from  year  to  year.  They  begin  even  to  export 
them  to  foreign  countries." 

He  then  gives  the  statistics  of  the  trade,  including  the  values  of  the  wines  and 
spirits.     He  says,  concerning  the  falling  off  in  the  importation  of  French  wines,  etc.: 

'■Two  causes  have  contributed  to  reduce  the  importation  of  our  wines  and  spirits 
to  the  figure  ot  to-day,  which  is  scarcely  the  third  of  what  it  was  ten  years  ago.  I 
mean  the  increase  of  the  tariff,  which  is  equal  to  a  quasi-prol.ibiiion,  and  the  vinicul- 
tural  pioluclion  of  California;  the  influence  of  the  second  cause  \i  permanent,  and 
will  make  itself  felt  more  from  year  to  year,  even  if  the  first  ceases  to  exist. 


I20 

■'Foreign  wines,  in  wood,  are  taxed  40  cents,  or  2  francs  per  gallon,  or  71  cen- 
times per  litre;  those  in  case,  SI  GO,  or  8  francs  per  12  bottles,  or  6Q  centimes  per 
bottle.  At  this  same  price  of  two  francs  per  gallon,  the  consumer  can  procure  Cali- 
fornia wines  the  quality  of  which,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  preferable  to  that  of  our 
cargo  wines  (vins  de  cargaison).  It  is  therefore  evident  that  a  reduction  of  the  tarifT, 
even  if  50  per  cent.,  which  is  not  presumable,  would  not  be  s  ificient  to  enable  us  to 
sustain  the  contest  for  this  kind  of  wines.  If  a  certain  quantity  still  finds  an  outlet  in 
this  market,  it  is  because  the  jobbing  and  retail  merchants  enlarge  ( allojigeni, )io  use 
the  common  expression,  with  California  wines  the  little  French  wine  that  they  buy,  to 
such  a  degree  that  there  are  consumed  certainly  ten  barrels  of  native  wine  to  one  of 
our  vineyards." 

These  remarks  are  very  correct,  except  in  some  sense  where  they  relate  to  the 
tariff.  1  he  present  duty  is  not  prohibitive  of  pure  and  fine  wines,  and  only  in  part  of 
vins  de  cargaison.  The  pure,  fine  wines,  however,  are  prohibited  by  the  mercenary 
greed  of  retailers,  who  will  not  purchase  anything  except  the  very  cheapest  stuff  in  the 
market,  notwithstanding  they  sell  wines  by  the  bottle  at  from  $1  to  $4,  or  at  the  rate 
of  from  $5  to  $20  per  gallon,  while  paying  seldom  more  than  eighty  or  ninety  cents 
per  gallon,  duty  included.  The  vitis  de  cargaison  are  not  shut  out,  for  they  constitute 
even  now  nearly  all  the  wine  imports.  A  decrease  in  the  duty  would  enable  commis- 
sion agents  to  place  more  of  such  wines  in  the  hands  of  retailers,  who  would  buy  ihem 
because  they  were  cheaper  than  fine  California  wines,  and  would  sell  them,  as  usual, 
under  false  labels  at  high  prices.  The  efl^ect  of  the  change  would  be  to  retard  still 
longer  the  education  of  the  popular  taste  for  pure  wine,  it  being  the  retailers'  interest 
to  keep  up  the  prejudice  in  favor  of  the  false,  acquired  taste  for  fictitious  wines. 
There  is  enough  difTerence  between  California  wines,  which  have  a  delicious  taste  of 
the  fruit  and  fine  body,  and  French  wines,  to  prevent  them  from  being  generally 
passed  off  without  alterations  upon  consumers  under  foreign  labels.  From  this  state- 
ment must  be  excepted  a  few  classes  of  red  and  several  of  white  wines,  which  are 
easily  substituted  for  foreign  articles. 

The  inability  to  use  most  of  the  fresh  natural  fruity  California  wines  to  deceive 
consumers,  unless  they  are  first  blended  with  such  wines  as  come  from  the  Midi  and 
the  coarser,  astringent  vitis  de  cargaison,  of  Bordeaux,  keeps  the  retailers  from  en- 
couraging them,  except  so  far  as  they  can  use  them  in  this  way,  and  keeps  up  the 
demand  for  the  kind  of  stuff  that  is  imported.  The  retailer  cannot  sell  ordinary  Cali- 
fornia wine  without  first  doctoring  it,  as  Chateau  Margaux,  Chateaux  Larose  and  St. 
Julien,  for  which  labels  he  gets  high  prices.  His  interest  is  to  keep  California  wines 
from  use  under  their  true  labels,  because  when  sold  honestly  they  do  not  command 
high  prices.  The  present  tariff,  however,  is  reducing  the  practice  of  using  cheap, 
rough  wines  in  making  up  deceptions  to  a  minimum,  and  the  quality  of  wine,  nomi- 
nally foreign,  is  improving  in  purity  by  reason  of  the  smaller  quantity  of  foreign  stuff 
added  to  the  California  wines,  as  I\I.  Forest  sets  forth.  In  a  few  years  the  public  will 
get  free  from  the  illusions  of  labels  and  the  use  of  foreign  wines  will  become  legiti- 
mate, being  either  imported  in  simple,  pure  state  to  assist  in  blending  legitimately 
where  certain  of  our  wines  lack  color,  tannin,  etc.,  or  being  imported  directly  to 
satisfy  the  demands  of  connoisseurs,  whose  demand,  I  showed  in  my  last  letter,  is 
now  almost  wholly  ignored,  for  there  is  so  small  a  quantity  of  fine  wines  recorded  in 
the  invoices,  notwithstanding  the  great  quantity  nominally  consumed  by  label. 


121 

We  need  to  maintain  the  tariff,  as  it  is,  in  the  interest  of  the  connoisseur,  the  ordi- 
nary consumer,  our  own  producers,  public  health  and  honesty.  As  I  have  shown 
before,  the  consumer  suffers  from  the  frauds  and  extortions  of  the  retailers,  and  not 
from  the  tariff;  a  reduction  in  the  tariff  of  fifty  per  cent.,  or  two  cents  a  pint  bottle, 
would  never  operate  in  the  interest  of  consumers,  as  trade  is  now  conducted. 

The  French  Vice-Consul,  Mons.  Verleye,  at  Boston,  in  his  report,  dated  March 
31st,  1878,  says: 

"It  is  shameful  that  our  French  houses  do  not  send  wines  here.  The  actual  tax 
is  40  cents  per  gallon,  or  about  $24  per  barrel;  or,  approximately  in  French  money, 
120  francs  per  barrel.  At  the  price  of  sale  of  wines  in  Boston,  it  seems  certain  that 
the  business  would  be  fruitful  if  well  conducted.  The  trade  in  wines  is  conducted 
here  by  houses  without  any  importance  and  without  capital,  which  render  the  sale 
difficult  by  reason  of  the  bad  quality  of  the  products  which  they  offer  for  consumption 
and  the  excessive  profits  which  they  demand  from  the  goods.  Strong  and  perfumed 
wines  seem  to  be  the  most  generally  consumed." 

I  hope  I  shall  not  be  expected  by  my  readers  to  produce  many  more  proofs  of 
the  true  character  of  the  foreign  wine  trade  in  the  United  States.  It  will  be  their  own 
fault  if  they  continue  to  be  imposed  upon. 

There  should  be  a  fight  of  consumers  against  the  swindling  propensities  of  retail- 
ers, rather  than  against  the  foreign  trade.  Foreigners  all  have  a  contempt  for  the 
American  market,  and  they  speak  of  it  as  though  the  consumer  was  to  blame,  because 
the  American  commission  houses  write  that  they  cannot  sell  good  articles.  This  is 
because  the  commission  houses  sell  to  the  retailers,  and  not  to  the  consumers;  for 
the  latter  demand  good  articles  and  pay  good  prices — prices  far  too  great,  even,  for 
fine  articles. 

I  have  introduced  these  questions  here  because  the  native  American  wines  do 
enter  into  the  question  of  Franco-American  commerce,  and  because  it  is  shown  to  be, 
by  reason  of  their  improving  quality  and  increasing  quantity,  that  the  importations  of 
French  wines  are  decreasing.  If  we  were  to  become  a  wine-drinking  people,  the  im- 
portation of  fine  wines  would  largely  increase.  It  is  the  vin  de  cargaiso?i,  which  is 
being  shut  out  by  our  wines,  which,  as  M.  Forest  says,  are  better  wines.  The  moral 
of  this  is,  don't  continue  to  drink  California  wines  under  foreign  labels,  mixed  and 
flavored  to  imitate  fancy  brands. 

I  have  on  my  table  a  work  entitled  Ehide  sur  les  bois^oiis  fermeiiiks  (a  study  of 
fermented  drinks),  by  Maurice  Boucherie,  published  by  Eugene  Lacroix,  Paris.  It 
gives  a  review  of  the  wines  of  the  world.  Under  the  head  of  the  United  States,  it 
says : 

"  At  the  Exposition,  the  wines  of  California,  which  are,  without  question,  the 
best  in  the  United  States,  have  not  suffered  from  comparison  with  their  glorious  rivals. 
They  are  certainly  yet  far  from  being  wines  of  high  price,  but  there  have  been  re- 
marked in  them  finesse  and  bouquet.  Indeed,  the  rational  culture  of  the  vine  in 
California  is  of  so  recent  date  that  the  progress  realized  is  quite  satisfactory." 

A  series  of  volumes  is  being  published,  entitled  I^  pays  Etrangers  et  T Exposition 
de  1878  (Foreign  countries  and  the  Exposition  of  1878),  by  Clovis  Lamarre  and  Rend 
de  la  Blanchere.  The  volume  relating  to  the  United  States  has  already  appeared- 
In  the  chapter  on  alimentary  products,  the  wines  are  treated  under  two  headings,  those 
Q^the  Atlantic  and  those  of  the  Pacific  Coasts. 


122 

"California,"  it  says,  "commences  lo  present,  in  the  matter  of  wines,  a  serious 
production.  *  *  *  g^j.  already  California  has  very  remarkable  white  wines, 
several  of  which  can  sustain  rivalry  with  the  wines  of  the  Rhine,  and  champagnes,  the 
best  of  which  may  console  people  who  have  not  the  original  wines  of  the  Champagne 
district.  California  stands,  without  contest,  at  the  head  of  the  vStates  for  vinicultural 
production." 

THE    UNDERLYING    INTEREST    IN    THE    "  CHOTTEAU-MEXIER    SCHEME," 

As  the  American  Regtsler  calls  the  proposed  new  treaty,  can  be  understood  from  the 
statements  which  are  set  forth  in  this  and  my  last  letter.  The  French  nation,  how- 
ever, is  gravitating  toward  protection,  and  is  threatening  reprisals.  The  clause  in  the 
resolution  introduced  in  the  French  Senate,  before  al'uJed  to,  which  provides  that 
their  proposed  general  tariff  shall  apply  to  all  countries  which  offer  France  the  treat- 
ment of  the  most  favored  nations,  and  which  do  not  impose  duties  on  French  pro- 
ducts greater  than  the  French  do  on  the  same  kind  of  articles  from  foreign  sources,  is 
a  shrewd  way  to  complicate  matters.  Such  a  clause  would  enable  the  French  Legis- 
lature to  take  issue  with  nearly  every  country  in  the  world,  for  there  could  be  found 
few  where,  in  some  respects,  the  tariff  did  not  vary  in  certain  particulars  so  that  the 
duties  would  be  greater  than  exacted  in  France  on  the  same.  The  Chotteau-iMenier 
scheme  is  of  such  a  kind  as  the  United  States  can  never  enter  into  with  a  rival 
nation.  It  is  a  scheme  to  subvert  our  general  tariff  system  for  a  special  contract  with 
France.  We  had  better,  if  any  is  required,  secure  a  special  contract  with  Great 
Britain  and  her  dependencies,  whose  populations  will  consume  more  American  man- 
ufactures than  many  times  such  nations  as  France.  France  does  not  propose  to  begin 
to  change  the  habits  of  her  people  ;  they  will  drive  foreign  goods  out  of  their  markets 
rather  than  tolerate  them.  France  will  receive  only  raw  material,  foods,  and  such 
manufactured  goods  as  she  cannot  produce.  Any  temporary  trade  must  not  be  con- 
sidered permanent.  The  French  abhor  f  jreign  goods,  and  only  take  to  them  from 
necessity.  We  are  in  rivalry  with  France,  and  we  shall,  of  course,  contend  with  her 
in  the  markets  which  she  has  been  supplying.  Shutting  up  her  ports  to  us  will  be  a 
matter  of  small  importance  compared  with  what  she  demands  of  us. 

Mons.  Menier  is  the  great  chocolate  manufacturer  and  an  enterprising  merchant. 
Chotteau  is  the  agent  of  the  combination  of  manufacturers  and  wine  and  spirit  ex- 
porters, who  came  to  the  United  States  to  try  the  task  of  getting  Americans  to  refuse 
to  compete  with  France  and  to  step  back  into  the  line  of  consuming  markets.  The 
Americans  connected  actively  with  the  movement  are  very  few.  There  is  a  patent 
lawyer,  whose  office  is  in  Washington,  and  whose  sympathies  arc  French  on  account 
of  relationship  by  marriage  ;  another  lawyer  from  Cincinnati;  a  young  capitalist  of 
Boston,  who  was  in  the  Bowles  Bros.'  failure,  and  who  likes  Paris;  a  merchant  of 
Baltimore,  who  is  interested  in  the  import  trade;  and  a  few  Southerners,  who  have 
been  caught  by  talk  about  free  trade  for  cotton.  Chotteau  has  endeavored  to  make 
his  scheme  a  Southern  measure;  but  I  have  yet  faith  enough  in  Southern  men  to 
think  that  when  they  understand  it  they  will  denounce  it. 

HOW  FRANCE  NULLIFIES  LOW  TARIFFS. 

In  my  next  I  will  show  how  illusory  are  all  hopes  of  increased  trade  with 
France,  by  reason  of  the  internal  system  of  taxation,  which  walls  in  all  her  cities, 
rendering  nugatory,  in  many  respects,  any  reduction  of  tariff.  C.  A.  W. 


1^3 

The  fallacies  of  the  proposed  Franco-American  Treaty — 
French  Internal  Revenue  and  Municipal  System  of 
Taxation — The  "American  Register,"  of  Paris,  on 
the  proposed  Treaty  —  Dr.  Grothe  on  American 
Protection. 

London,  November  28,  1878. 
I  must  finish  my  correspondence,  as  I  can  find  opportunoty,  while  en  route  for 
the  United  States. 

THE    GREAT    PRINCIPLE 

Involved  in  the  question  of  commercial  relations  and  tariffs,  which  I  commenced 
discussing  in  my  last  letter,  is  one  that  afTects  ihe  support  of  home  industry  and  ulti- 
mately begets  national  pride.  A  nadon  of  all  nations,  thrown  together  as  we  have 
been,  needs  a  protective  tariff,  not  only  to  protect  home  industry  while  developing, 
but  to  insure  proper  American  pride  in  American  products.  What  the  Union  of 
States  and  the  Constitution  do  for  the  political  sentiment  of  the  people,  so  thrown 
together,  the  tariff  must  do  for  industry,  making  it  national  and  giving  our  people 
time  to  wean  themselves  from  products  bearing  foreign  marks.  The  German,  French- 
man, Englishman — all  foreign-born  citizens  naturally  favor  the  products  of  their 
former  homes;  even  the  native-born,  Americanized  American  clings  more  or  less  to 
the  traditions  of  the  Colonial  markets. 

This  is  not  a  selfish  plea  for  Americanism.  Every  man  is  dependent  more  on 
his  immediate  neighbor  than  upon  the  citizens  of  other  countries.  We  mutually  sup- 
port our  government  from  our  mutual  trade.  We  must  support  each  other,  in  prefer- 
ence to  all  others.  The  protective  tariff  teaches  us  to  be  Americans  in  justice  to 
each  other.  The  foreigner  who  is  not  willing  to  be  American  on  these  conditions 
will  always  be  a  foreigner  and  an  agent  of  our  despoilers. 

When  I  advocate  the  interests  of  America,  from  our  own  standpoint,  it  is  not 
against  the  French,  but  in  favor  of  our  own  citizens,  whether  thev  be  of  French, 
German  or  English  birth  We  cannot  work  together  on  any  other  basis,  and  if  we 
cannot  work  together  we  cannot  be  compatriots. 

I  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  apologize  for  being  an  American,  with  pride  in 
and  hope  for  America,  and  zeal  for  American  industry  against  all  the  world.  If  such 
feeling  could  be  made  the  life  of  a  great  American  national  parly,  I  should  like  to 
see  such  a  party  created,  and  to  be  a  member  of  it. 

I  have  no  respect  whatever  for  the  American  citizen  who  is  not  willing,  by  such 
small  sacrifices  as  may  be  called  for,  to  assist  in  supporting,  improving  and  enlarging 
American  industry  in  competition  with  all  the  world.  That  man  is  not  worthy  of 
success  who  does  not  assist  his  neighbor,  upon  whom  his  own  success  is  dependent. 

1  HE  TALLACIES  OF  THE    PROPOSED    FRENCH    TREATY  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES 

I  have,  from  time  to  time,  touched  upon.  The  people  cannot  understand  ihem  too 
well. 

A  small  combination  demand  that  we  shall  reduce  the  duty  on  silks,  for  no 
other  purpose  than  to  prevent  us  from  competing  with  France  in  the  manufacture  of 
silk. 


124 

The  common  objection,  that  protective  duties  make  articles  dear  in  our  markets, 
is  a  fallacy.  At  first  they  add  to  the  current  prices,  but  the  increased  cost  is  retained 
in  our  own  country,  supports  workmen,  and  they  support  other  producers  by  their 
consumption.  Competition,  however,  soon  bears  down  prices,  and  the  protective 
tariff  no  longer  increases  prices.  To-day,  most  that  has  been  protected  is  able  to  pay 
duty  in  France  and  England,  and  compete  with  foreign  products  where  they  are 
produced. 

They  demand  a  decrease  in  the  duty  on  spirits,  for  no  other  reason,  as  I  have 
shown  before,  than  to  introduce,  under  the  deception  of  foreign  labels,  in  our  markets, 
greaterquantities  of  beet-root  and  potato  alcohols,  diluted,  flavored,  and  called  cognac, 
kirsch,  gin,  absinthe,  etc.  I  have  shown  that  their  genuine  spirits  are  not  sufficient 
to  supply  present  demand,  and  the  product  is  not  increasing,  but  decreasing. 

They  demand  a  reduction  in  wine  duties,  for  no  other  reason  than  to  enable 
vin  de  cargaison  to  retard  the  production  of  pure  natural  wines  in  our  own  country. 

They  demand  that  wine  in  bottles  be  admitted  at  the  same  rate  of  duty  as  wine 
in  wood,  for  no  other  reasd^i  than  to  double  their  profits  on  the  wine  trade,  by  fur- 
nishing bottles  as  well  as  wine,  and  to  enable  them  to  more  easily  circulate  false 
labels.     The  supply  of  wine  justly  labeled  is  infinitely  less  than  the  demand. 

They  talk  about  giving  us  advantages,  which  advantages  would  all  be  nullified 
by  their  svstem  of  taxation.     And  here  it  is  necessary  to  consider  another  question. 

THE  FRENCH  INTERNAL  TAXES, 

In  the  United  States,  when  goods  pass  the  Custom  Houses,  they  are  free  to  cir- 
culate in  the  country.  The  PVench  laws  provide  for  indirect  taxes  in  addition  to 
the  tariff. 

First — For  the  support  of  the  general  Government. 

Second — For  the  support  of  towns  and  cities. 

This  internal  revenue  system,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  general  Government,  is 
called  the  Regie;  so  far  as  it  relates  to  municipalities,  the  Octroi. 

It  is  collected  by  an  army  of  tax-gatherers,  which,  I  am  told,  numbers  400,000 
officers.  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  the  statement  of  numbers,  but  I  assume  that 
it  cannot  be  far  from  the  truth. 

The  principle  of  this  Internal  Revenue  is  to  tax  consumption  and  circulation. 
The  methods  of  the  law  are  quite  complex  and  could  not  be  carried  into  eflfect,  so 
as  to  prevent  fraud,  without  an  immense  army  of  collectors,  guards,  inspectors  and 
detectives. 

These  taxes  may  be  described  under  three  heads:  the  tax  of  circulation,  of  en- 
try, and  of  octroi.  They  vary  according  to  departments  and  the  relative  populations 
of  communes  and  cities,  according  to  fixed  classifications.  Paris,  however,  is 
treated  distinctly,  with  special  provisions  of  law.  Hence,  it  is  impracticable  for  me 
to  state  much  more  than  the  general  features  and  limits  of  this  taxation. 

The  tax  of  circulation,  generally  speaking,  permits  the  Government  to  follow, 
throughout  all  their  movements,  the  articles  from  producer  or  importer  to  the  con- 
sumer or  retail  vendor.  It  permits  the  Government  to  know  the  place,  hour  of 
movement,  destination,  road  followed,  mode  of  transportation  of  all  wines,  spirits, 
etc.,  subjected  to  taxation.  A  viniculturist  cannot  move  his  wines  from  one  place  to 
another  without  obtaining  written  authority,  which  the   person  in   charge  of  them 


125 

must  exhibit,  if  called  upon.  Every  road  and  the  entrances  to  every  city  and  to^vn 
are  guarded  by  officers  of  the  Regie  and  Octroi.  Every  carriage  which  leaves 
Paris  for  a  short  drive  into  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  is  stopped  at  the  entrance  of  the 
city,  when  returning,  and  the  formality  of  inspection  is  gone  through  with,  to  pre- 
vent smuggling  wines  and  spirits.  Ever)-  farmer's  wagon,  loaded  with  hay  or  turnips, 
is  inspected  for  the  same  purpose.  Every  tourist  entering  one  French  city  from 
another  is  subjected  to  the  same  inspection,  as  if  coming  from  England  or  America. 

Then  there  is  added  the  tax  of  entr)'  (droit  d' entree),  also  for  the  benefit  of  the 
General  Government,  which  is  collected  together  with  the  octroi,  which  is  for  the 
benefit  of  the  commune  or  city.  This  tax  is  similar  in  nearly  all  respects  to  a  customs 
tariff — all  producers  outside  the  gates  of  a  city  being  treated  as  we  do  foreigners. 

There  is  also  a  tax  upon  the  retailing  of  goods,  which  the  cities  are  permitted  to 
convert  together  with  the  tax  of  entry  into  one  tax,  collected  upon  entry. 

There  are  four  classifications  of  Departments  (districts  or  counties),  in  each  of 
which  the  tax  of  entry  is  different.  Then  again,  this  tax  varies  in  each  class  of  De- 
partments, according  to  population  of  cities.  For  instance,  the  tax  on  wines  in  the 
Gironde,  Charente,  or  Herault  (of  the  first  class),  varies  for  a  hectolitre  (26.40 
American  gallons),  from  45  centimes  in  a  population  of  4,000  to  6,000,  to  one  franc 
80  centimes  in  a  population  of  50,000  or  more.  In  the  fourth  class  (Northern  De- 
partments principally),  it  varies  from  90  centimes  to  3  francs  60  centimes  for  popu- 
lations as  before.  The  tax  of  circulation  on  wines  varies  from  1.50  francs  in  the  first 
class  to  3  francs  in  the  fourth  class  per  hectolitre.  The  octroi  tax,  imposed  as  an 
additional  tax  of  entry  by  the  cities  and  towns,  is  limited  by  general  laws  so  as  not  to 
exceed  by  more  than  one-third  the  tax  of  entry  imposed  by  the  Regie.  There  are 
also  decimes  (tenths)  added  by  special  laws,  which  increase  from  time  to  time,  for  spe- 
cial funds,  these  general  and  local  taxes. 

I  obtained  official  statements  of  these  taxes  for  Bordeaux  and  Paris,  and  in  part 
for  Marseilles. 

For  Bordeaux  the  taxes  in  francs  are,  per  hectolitre  (26.40  American  wine  gal- 
lons), as  follows: 

Circulation.  Entry.  Octroi.  Total. 

Wines,  in  wood 1.50  5.05  1.20             7.75 

Wines,  in  botdes 18.75  5.05  1.20  25. 

Spirits,  in  wood 30.  156.25  24.  210.25 

Spirits,  in  bottles 30.  218.75  24.  272.75 

The  spirits  are  taxed  according  to  hectolitres  of  pure  alcohol  contained,  and  not 
according  to  proof  measures. 

In  Marseilles,  the  Octroi  tax  for  wines  is  2.40  francs  and  for  spirits  24  francs_ 
The  other  taxes  for  INIarscilles  I  presume  to  be  the  same  as  in  Bordeaux,  both  cities 
having  more  than  50,000  inhabitants  and  being  in  the  same  class  of  Departments. 
From  this  statement,  the  American  alcohol  producer  can  determine  what  is  the  cost 
of  placing  spirits  in  consumption  in  those  places,  the  tax  of  entry  into  the  country  (the 
tariff)  being  added — 30  francs  per  hectolitre,  as  I  have  explained  in  a  former  letter; 


Octroi. 

Total,  franc?. 

12. 

23.87 

30. 

50. 

79.80 

266.05 

79.80 

328.55 

79.80 

328  55 

4.56 

10.49 

15. 

126 

In  Paris  the  taxes  are  specially  fixed  (the  tax  of  circulation  being  merged  in  the 
tax  of  entry)  as  follows: 

Entry. 

Wines,  in  wood 11 .87 

Wines,  in  bottle 20. 

Spirits,  in  wood 186.25 

Spii  its,  in  bottle 248.75 

Absinthe 248.75 

Cider  (apple,  pear,  etc.) 5.93 

Beer 

It  will  be  observed  from  these  statements  that  each  city  is  protected  from  free 
entry  of  bottles  containing  wines  or  spirits.  This  enables  each  place  to  maintain  its 
bottling  and  jobbing  trade.  Considering  this  fact,  is  it  not,  to  say  the  least,  "cheeky" 
on  the  part  of  French  wine  jobbers  to  ask  the  United  States  to  admit  wine  in  bottle 
at  the  same  rate  of  duty  as  wine  in  cask  ? 

The  French  tariff  needs  to  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  Regie  and  Octroi 
taxes.  The  Paris  Octroi  tax  upon  empty  bottles  is  61  francs  per  100  kilogrammes, 
sufficient  to  shut  out  entirely  common  foreign-made  bottles  that  might  pass  the  cus- 
toms tariff. 

Eighty-two  articles  are  enumerated  in  the  list  of  Octroi  taxes  for  Paris,  princi- 
pally, articles  for  eating  and  drinking,  both  for  man  and  beast,  building  material,  fuel, 
lumber,  boats,  mirrors  and  other  glass  manufactures. 

With  such  a  system  in  France,  all  offers  for  commercial  treaties  must  be  care- 
fully considered,  because  the  internal  taxation  may  operate  effectually  to  nullify  any 
advantages  offered  by  reduction  of  tariffs.  It  is  this  system  which  creates  so  much 
local  feeling  in  France.  Every  Frenchman  talks  of  mon  pays  (my  country),  meaning 
only  the  Department  in  which  he  lives  or  was  born.  He  speaks  of  the  whole  coun- 
try as  la  pairie. 

The  domestic  commerce  of  France  is  also  greatly  retarded  by  the  system.  Each 
city  is  foreign  to  the  others.  For  the  same  reason,  the  circulation  of  foreign  goods 
entered  at  one  port  is  practically  prohibited  elsewhere,  unless  the  agents  of  theJor- 
eign  trade  are  established  everywhere. 

For  the  partial  convenience  of  domestic  trade,  there  is  a  system  of  accounts  with 
wholesale  dealers,  by  which  the  octroi  and  entry  taxes  may  be  remitted  in  bond,  when 
they  are  received  in  one  city  to  be  forwarded  to  another.  But  'hia  only  applies  to 
wholesale  dealings.  The  retail  dealer,  upon  the  price  of  whose  goods  the  tax  is 
added,  can  offer  no  inducements  to  the  small  outside  traders,  because  the  goods 
must  be  again  taxed  when  they  pass  to  another  place. 

It  is  for  these  reasons,  as  I  have  before  explained,  that  the  habits  of  French  peo- 
ple, respecting  what  they  eat  and  drink,  vary  so  much.  In  the  north  they  drink  cider 
and  coarse  spirits;  in  the  northwest,  beer  and  spirits;  in  the  south,  wine.  They  need 
at  Bordeaux  a  commercial  treaty  with  Normandy.  Of  what  great  advantage  to  us 
would  it  be  to  open  the  market  at  Bordeaux,  INIarseilles  and  Havre,  in  exchange, 
under  these  conditions,  for  a  few  of  our  goods,  if  we  must  open  our  whole  country, 
by  general  reduction  of  tariffs,  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  world.?  Of  what  advan- 
age  to  get  cheaply  into  the  bonded  customs'  warehouse  of  Bordeaux,  while  the  Octroi 
of  Bordeaux  establishes  another  tax  to  protect  local  glass  factories .-' 


127 

Each  French  city  is  a  community  of  workmen  and  producers,  walled  in,  not 
only  from  the  industry  of  its  neighbors,  but  from  that  of  the  outside  world  also.  A 
Franco-American  commercial  treaty  would  be  a  one-sided  affair,  if  we  should  grant 
free  circulation  throughout  the  United  States,  in  exchange  for  the  privilege  of  knock- 
ing at  the  gates  of  French  cities,  and  paying  tribute  there.  It  is  true  that  after  paying 
customs  tribute  at  Bordeaux  or  Marseilles,  we  should  be  on  a  par  with  outside  French 
products  seeking  a  market  there;  but  we  should  not  be  on  a  par  with  French  goods 
produced  in  Bordeaux  or  Marseilles.  Observe,  above,  the  marked  distinction  be- 
tween liquors  in  botde  and  those  in  wood.  If  \ve  should  send  canned  oysters,  meat, 
or  vegetables,  we  should  meet  the  same  difficulty. 

This  system  also  cultivates  in  the  French  people  a  taste  for  their  own  products 
and  a  distaste  for  all  that  is  foreign;  hence,  France  will  not  be,  under  any  circum- 
stances of  tariff,  a  good  market  for  our  manufactures,  excepting  in  certain  necessary- 
things.  The  French  do  not  like  foreign  products.  They  even  take  our  crude  petro- 
leum and  refme  it  themselves;  take  our  tallow  and  make  soap.  They  prohibit  the 
use  of  foreign  alcohols  in  their  wines  for  home  consumption,  but  permit  the  use  of 
French  beet  root  spirits;  and  the  government,  as  I  showed  in  a  previous  letter,  ad- 
mits the  practice  of  giving  facilities  to  exporters,  without  direct  sanction  of  law,  to 
prepare  in  bond,  concoctions  which  they  will  not  permit  to  circulate,  in  some  insiances, 
and  which  they  discourage  by  oppressive  taxation  in  others,  in  French  markets. 
"  They  must  be  exported,"  is  the  language  of  the  official  order.  They  demand  that 
we  shall  lower  our  tariffs  so  as  to  admit  to  our  markets  what  they  prohibit  in  France. 

There  are  many  things  of  our  manufacture  which  are  contraband  in  French 
trade.  For  instance,  American  locks  at  the  Exposition  could  not  even  be  given  away. 
They  are  contraband  and  not  permitted  to  enter  the  country  for  sale. 

The  French  tariff  discriminates  against  certain  nations  ;  the  American  tariff  is  as 
favorable  to  France  as  to  Spain  or  other  countries.  We  have  a  right  to  complain  ; 
the  French  have  none. 

THE  THREAT  OF  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  MANUFACTURERS 

Is  to  levy  a  tax  on  our  wheat,  beef,  etc.  They  say  that  we  only  export  our  surplus ; 
that  it  would  rot  on  our  hands  if  we  did  not  export  it ;  hence  we  are  obliged  to  seek 
their  markets,  and  if  they  lew  a  tax  upon  our  products  of  raw  material,  it  will  not 
raise  the  price  in  their  markets,  but  the  tax  will  come  out  of  our  producers. 

F'ven  if  their  position  is  a  sound  one  in  this  respect,  it  follows  that  the  countries 
which  they  flivor  would  seek  the  markets  that  we  shun  and  leave  us  room  for  our  sur- 
plus elsewhere;  and,  more  important,  if  we  maintain  our  manufactures,  our  farmers 
can  sell  to  American  workmen  what  they  would  otherwise  be  obliged  to  sell  to  foreign 
workers,  if  we  encouraged  importations  in  place  of  home  production. 

Indeed,  the  policy  of  forcing  our  exports  beyond  what  the  world  demandj  of  us, 
is  a  bad  one,  because  it  is  always  liable  to  be  affected  by  the  tariffs  of  other  nations  ; 
also  by  new  producing  industries.  This  is  the  trouble  now  with  F^ngland  and  France. 
What  we  need  is  to  be  self-sufficient  and  supporting,  having  nearly  all  the  material, 
brains,  strength  and  energy  necessary  to  provide  work  for  our  people  in  all  industries. 
When  we  produce  all  that  we  need,  we  may  look  to  a  period  of  exportation  as  a 
means  of  cancelling  our  debts.     Beyond  that  we  need  not  be  greatly  concerned. 

We  have  to  face,  however,  in  the  future,  the  determined  opposition  of  Europe  : 
and  now  is  the  time,  not  for  treating  with  our  rivals,  but  for  obtaining  a  foothold  in 


128 

the  markets  supplied  by  France  and  England.  Italy  would  be  a  better  market  for  us 
than  France.  Why  should  England,  France,  Belgium,  Holland  and  Germany  claim 
to  monopolize  South  America,  Africa,  the  Orient,  the  INIediterranean  and  Asia  .'  They 
do  it  without  asking  permission  of  any  one,  and  in  the  interest  of  their  workmen. 
We  must  take  the  simc  course,  whether  our  rivals  like  it  or  not. 

INDUSTRIES    IN    BORDEAUX. 

For  the  sake  of  showing  the  importance  of  some  of  the  industries  of  one  city — 
for  instance,  Bordeaux — more  or  less  protected  by  a  prohibitive  Regie  and  Octroi  tax 
in  addition  to  the  tariff,  I  will  give  a  few  items  of  the  money  annually  paid  to  certain 
classes  of  workmen  in  that  city  : 

Cooperage,  hoops,  pegs,  etc $4,200,000 

Bottle-making 600,000 

Cup  making 200,000 

Cork-making 80,000 

IMetallic  capsule-making  (for   bottles) 22^,000 

Straw  wrapper  making 00,000 

Box  making 600,000 

Preparing  crvstalized  tartar 150,000 

Preparing  vinegar 200,000 

Total $6,310,000 

Nearly  all  of  this  sum  is  expended  in  Bordeaux  in  preparing  wines  for  shipment. 
It  includes  only  the  cost  of  labor.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  Bordeaux  Chamber  of 
Commerce  should  wish  us  to  increase  this  labor  by  letting  in  bottled  wine  at  the  same 
duly  as  wine  in  cask,  and  to  let  in  their  imitations  of  cognac,  absinthe,  gin,  etc.,  at 
such  a  rate  that  German  alcohols  prepared  in  France  might  compete,  under  French 
labels,  with  our  own  better  alcohols  distilled  from  corn. 

Suppose,  however,  we  should  grant  the  request,  and  that  Chicago,  New  York, 
San  Francisco  and  all  American  towns  and  cities  were  able  to  protect  their  own  indus- 
tries by  an  octroi,  or  municipal  tariff,  we  should  then  be  granting  to  France  what  a 
few  of  her  people  offer  us. 

THE     EXPORTS    OF   FRANCE 

To  the  United  States  during  the  year  ending  September  30th,  1877,  amounted  in  de- 
clared values  to  $49,183,091  40,  a  slight  increase  over  the  preceding  year  and  thir- 
teen million  dollars  less  than  the  year  ending  September  30th,  1875.  Out  of  this 
quantity  in  1877  wines  figured  for  only  $2,555,705  and  spirits  for  $1,487,229.  The 
silk  export  was  as  follows  for  1877  :  Raw  silk,  $1,230,223  ;  silk  and  velvet  piece 
goods,  $8,499,044  ;  silk  and  velvet  ribbons,  $293,725. 

The  French  should  congratulate  themselves  that  their  raw  silk  finds  such  a  grow- 
ing market  in  the  United  States,  about  equalling  the  spirit  trade.  But  this  is  what 
they  don't  like  to  see.  They  do  not  wish  to  see  a  market  in  the  United  States  for 
raw  material  from  France. 

Yet,  wiih  all  their  grumbling,  France  is  far  ahead  in  her  commerce  in  manufac- 
tures with  us,  and  it  is  we  who  should  ask  for  increased  advantages,  and  complain  if 
they  are  not  granted.  We  may  reduce,  through  our  own  production,  the  imports 
from  France,  but  we  cannot  largely  increase  our  exports  to  her,  even  with  more  favor- 
able tariffs.  The  French  dislike  for  foreign  goods  is  a  stronger  power  than  even  a 
protective  tariff, 


I2g 

The  industries,  such  as  in  leather,  boots  and  shoes,  glass,  watches,  chemicals, 
etc.,  have  more  reason  to  complain  than  either  the  silk  or  wine  and  spirit  industries, 
because  they  are  very  large  in  importance,  and  cannot  send  us  raw  material.  The 
wine  and  spirit  interest,  as  I  hxve  heretofore  shown,  has  the  least  right  to  complain, 
because  there  is  no  excess  of  production  in  France,  as  the  rising  prices,  increased  im- 
ports, and  decreasing  exports  to  all  countries,  show.  Moreover,  our  native  wines 
shut  out  of  our  market  a  class  of  wines  for  which  they  can  say  nothing  in  favor,  and, 
if  they  could  increase  their  product  of  fine  wines,  the  popular  use  of  pure  native  wine 
will  increase  the  number  of  wine  drinkers  and  connoisseurs,  and  increase  the  demand 
for  fine  French  wines  to  serve  the  taste  of  the  fastidious.  But  such  wines  are  rare  in 
quality  and  quantity,  and  not  sufllcient  to  supply  present  demands.  The  production 
of  brandies,  I  have  also  shown,  is  decreasing  rapidly,  and,  if  the  vineyards  of  the  Cha- 
rente,  destroyed  by  the  phylloxera,  are  not  restored,  all  the  glory  of  fine  champagne 
W'ill  soon  be  a  matter  of  history  only. 

The  wine  and  spirit  men  have  now  a  greater  market  than  they  can  legitimately 
supply.     Hence,  they  have  little  claims  for  consideration. 

Nearly  all  the  other  industries  are  talking  protection  for  France  and  favoring 
increased  tariffs. 

THE    SENTIMENT 

In  favor  of  the  proposed  treaty  is  confined  to  a  few  Americans,  who  have  been 
complimented  by  being  shrewdly  selected  by  Mr.  Chotteau,  the  employed  agent  of 
Mons.  jMenier  and  his  associates,  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  United  States.  I  have 
found  none  of  theUnited  States  Consuls,  or  other  United  States  officers,  who  have  been 
called  upon  for  opinions,  favorable  to  the  scheme,  except  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the 
Consul  at  Paris.  This  clerk  was  formerly  in  the  business  of  importing  French  ribbons, 
and  manifests  a  sort  of  indignation  because  Americans  should  presume  to  compete 
against  French  silks.  He  is  charged  by  General  Fairchild,  the  new  Consul  at  Paris,  with 
the  work  of  preparing  the  statistics  for  his  first  annual  report.  I  was  kindly  informed  by 
him,  when  I  was  enquiring  for  information  useful  to  our  people,  that  he  should  not 
occupy  himself  with  any  special  interest,  and  that  this  year  he  intended  to  drop  from 
the  report  the  figures  showing  the  "  Special  Commerce"  of  France. 

I  presumed  to  suggest  to  him  that  those  figures  were  most  important,  because 
they  indicated  what  portion  of  imports  from  the  United  States  were  actually  con- 
sumed in  France,  and  what  part  of  her  exports  were  genuine  French  products.  He 
was  then  kind  enough  to  say  that  I  was  working  /or  mj>  own  inta-cst,  and  that  if 
people  wanted  to  find  out  these  things,  they  must  get  the  information  themselves, 
or  got  the  State  Department  to  call  for  it.  This  man  is  certainly  the  wrong  man  in 
tlie  right  place;  for  of  what  use  are  Consular  reports  if  they  do  not  give  informa- 
tion for  the  use  of  our  people  .''  Such  a  man,  with  sympathies  on  the  side  of  Amer- 
ican importers,  and  against  our  producers,  can  hide  many  facts,  which  our  pieople 
have  a  right  to  learn  through  the  Consular  service.  General  Fairchild  is  not  in  Paris 
at  present,  and  is  new  to  the  French  business  ;  it  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  he 
will  review  carefully  the  work  of  his  subordinate,  before  it  is  sent  to  Washington. 

ALCOHOLS. 

I  have  received  some  further  particulars  concerning  the  alcohol  trade  at  Mar- 
seilles.    My  correspondent  write?  :  "American  alcohol,  imported  here,  is  all  of  one 


130 

quality;  that  is  to  say,  rectified  and  measuring  188^;  the  barrels,  also,  are  all  of  the 
same  capacity,  viz. :  45  gallons,  or  thereabouts."  The  Frencli  system  of  measuring 
spirits  is  centigrade — 100°  being  pure,  or  absolute  alcohol.  The /rois-six,  or  al- 
cohol of  commerce,  is  generally  from  85°  to  db^,  corresponding  to  from  about  160° 
to  180^  your  measure.      I\Iy  informant  continues: 

''The  Germans  make  alcohol  from  all  sorts  of  material,  and  consequently  the 
prices  arc  extremely  variable.  I  will  "'speak  only  of  the  best,  which  is,  in  fact,  pre- 
ferred here  to  American  alcohol  and  imported  in  barrels  of  45  gallons  and  casks  of 
over  100  gallons.  The  price  is  58  francs  per  hectolitre  for  the  former  and  55  francs 
for  the  latter,  inclulding  barrels.  Its  strength  as  alcohol  is  92*^,  Gay-Lussac  scale,  in 
other  words,  92  per  cent,  of  pure  alcohol. 

"The  French  alcohol,  which  is  considered  the  best,  distilled  from  beet  roots, 
rates  at  from  GO  francs  per  hectolitre  upwards.  The  eau-de  vie  de  vin  (wine  spirits) 
cost  in  bond  from  90  to  100  francs  per  hectolitre. 

"  Wines  sho-A  ing  an  alcoholic  force  greater  than  15  per  cent,  are  subject  to  a 
double  octroi  tax  for  the  quantity  of  alcohol  contained  between  15"  and  2^.  Those 
showing  a  force  greater  than  21^^  are  treated  as  eaux-de-vie  and  taxed  for  the  quantity 
of  pure  alcohol  contained,  according  to  the  rite  fixed  for  spirits. 

"The  ordinary  bottle  is  treated  as  a  litre  if  over  half  a  litre." 

All  prices  of  spirits  in  France  are  quoted,  as  i?t  bond,  without  the  addition  of 
either  tariff,  regie,  or  octroi  taxes.  In  a  former  letter  I  gave  the  price  of  American 
alcohol  in  Marseilles  as  80  francs  per  barrel. 

These  statements,  the  best  that  I  have  been  able  to  obtain,  will  be  of  more 
interest  to  the  alcohol  distillers  of  the  Western  States  than  to  California. 

C.  A.  W. 


Washington,  December  27th,  1878. — I  will  send  as  a  postscript  to  my  letter 
from  London,  of  November  28th,  a  few  recent  extracts  from  newspapers,  which  I 
have  received  from  Paris  this  week  : 

THE    LATEST    MOVEMENT    OF   THE     MENIER-CHOTTEAU     SCHEME. 

The  "American  Register"  of  Paris,  of  December  7th,  publishes  the  following: 
"  There  was  a  grand  meeting  at  the  circus  in  the  Champs  Elysces  on  Sunday  last, 
called  by  the  French  Committee  for  the  Promotion  of  P>anco-American  Commerce. 
Every  seat  in  the  large  theatre  was  occupied  by  a  most  respectable  looking  class  of 
people.  M.  Foucher  de  Caveil  presided,  and  made  an  elaborate  introductory  speech, 
closing  with  a  personal  compliment  to  ex-Governor  Fenton,  of  New  York,  who  made 
a  brief  response  in  English,  which  was  taken  down  by  a  stenographer,  and  repeated 
in  French  to  the  audience.  Governor  Fenton  studiously  avoided  the  subject  sup- 
posed to  be  under  discussion — international  free  trade — but  gave  his  earnest  support 
to  any  and  every  measure  tending  to  unite  the  two  countries  more  closely  in  com- 
mercial and  social  relations.  The  Governor's  remarks,  cautious  and  judicious,  were 
warmly  received.  He  was  followed  by  Senator  Laboulaye,  who  recited  a  long  chap- 
ter of  Franco-American  history,  from  the  first  settlement  of  Canada  to  the  last  Paris 
Exhib.tion — a  story  familiar  to  cverv  American  schoolboy.  Then  came  M.  Chot- 
teau,  who  was  sent  last  year  to  the  United  States  as  a  missionary,  to  preach  the  gospel 


131 

of  free-trade  to  the  benighted  American  Congress  and  people.  "M.  Chotteau  closed 
with  the  intimation  that  he  was  about  to  repeat  his  mission.  When  we  consider  that 
the  American  tariff,  as  it  exists  to-day,  is  far  more  liberal  than  the  French,  and  that 
every  article  of  American  export  not  taxed  in  the  French  schedule  is  prohibited, 
seized  and  confiscated  on  coming  into  France,  we  cannct  help  thinking  and  saying 
that  the  missionary  of  free  trade  might  find  pltnty  of  work  to  do  in  converting  pro- 
tect onist  heathen  at  home.  Wc  can  well  understand  M.  IMenier's  interest  in  having 
the  American  import  duty  on  chocolate  abolished,  and  the  Bordeaux  and  Rheims 
wine  merchants  in  urging  a  reduction  of  the  tariff  on  wines,  but  they  have  no  right 
or  reason  to  demand  this  until  France  abolishes  her  prohibitor)^  duty  on  American 
expons.  The  music  by  the  Garde  Republicaine  was  magnificent.  'Hail  Columbia' 
created  a  furore.  The  collection  at  the  doors  in  aid  of  (he  propaganda  did  not  amount 
to  much.     It  struck  us  as  rather  small  business." 

In  another  article  the  Register  says  : 

"  If,  however,  there  was  liitle  novelty  or  explanation  respecting  the  comparative 
advantages  of  the  opposing  commercial  systems,  vouchsafed  to  the  public  within  the 
Circus  of  the  Champs-Elysees,  some  information  on  the  subject  has  appeared  lately 
in  the  French  press.  In  a  recent  article  in  the  Debats,  from  the  pen  of  M.  de 
Molinari,  the  following  question  is  proposed.  Alluding  to  the  then  projected  meeting  in 
the  Champs-Elysees,  J\I.  de  Molinari  says  :  '  Whilst  we  oppose  to  American  products 
our  old  general  tariff,  which  still  contains  a  respectable  number  of  prohibitions,  our 
products  arc  submitted  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atb.ntic  to  the  excessive  dudes  which 
were  established  in  consequence  of  the  War  of  Secession.  This  regime  of  recipro- 
cal exclusion  is,  as  the  Protectionists  affirm,  the  best  for  the  development  of  the  na- 
tional riches  in  France  and  the  United  States.  It  is  clear  that  we  lose  by  not  selling 
to  the  Americans  all  which  we  could  sell  them  if  their  tariff  was  more  hospitable.  It 
is  no  less  clear  that  the  Americans,  repelled  from  our  market  by  a  tariff  nearly  as 
crabbed  as  their  own,  make  an  analogous  loss.  These  two  losses,  do  they  constitute 
one  profit.'''  'Respectable  nuinber  of  prohibitions'  and  'tariff  nearly  as  crabbed  as  their 
own,'  are  statements  which,  in  view  of  the  facts,  it  must  have  required  considerable 
'  cheek  '  to  have  written.  Whatever  may  be  the  opinions  of  Americans  on  the  sub- 
ject, it  is  clear  that  the  manufacturers  of  France  fear  the  losses  from  a  reduction  of 
duties  in  their  conventional  tariffs,  cr  they  would  not  demand,  as  the  French  oil  trade 
did  a  few  days  ago,  from  the  Custom's  Committee,  a  retention  of  the  present  duties, 
or  the  application  of  the  General  Tariff  to  the  colonies,  as  was  done  by  some  French 
colonial  merchants.  Crossing  the  Rhine,  we  find  the  German  iron-masters,  after  ex- 
periencing the  disadvantages  of  Free  Trade  in  iron  for  a  year,  demanding  the  German 
Chancellor  to  re-enact  protective  duties.  It  is  not,  however-,  necessary  to  leave  the 
columns  of  the  Fi'ench  Press  for  an  answer  to  IM.  de  Molinari's  tjuestion.  The  Temps, 
in  a  recent  article  on  the  industrial  condition  of  Fi-ance,  as  shown  by  the  official 
returns  of  exports  and  imports,  stated  that  the  excess  of  the  latter  over  the  former  was 
no  cause  of  uneasiness,  '  as  long  as  French  manufacturers  exported  more  manufacturtd 
goods  than  foreign  manifacturers  poured  into  the  country  i"  The  Temps  evidently  thinks 
that  a  loss  sustained  by  a  French  manufacturer  would  be  a  real  loss  to  the  French 
nation,  while  it  affects  to  believe  that  a  loss  sustained  by  the  American  manufacturer 
would  be  a  gain  to  the  American  nation," 


132 

I  find  another  extract,  as  follows :  "  Dr.  Grothe,  who  visited  the  United  Slates 
in  1876,  to  examine  the  operation  of  the  American  Tariff  Laws,  has  made  his  re- 
port, in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  protectionist  policy  in  America,  ascribing 
its  adoption  to  the  sound  sense  and  \yholesome  instinct  of  our  people,  and  their  un- 
readiness to  be  mislead  by  theories.  He  incorporates  into  his  paper  valuable  tables, 
which  give  the  substantial,  unquestionable  results  of  the  policy  pursued  at  the  differ- 
ent  periods,  and  also  all  the  numerical  facts  needed  for  a  proper  understanding  of 
the  system.  And  after  a  review  of  all,  he  emphasizes  the  conclusion — which  he 
shares  with  Professor  Rouleaux — '  that  the  United  States  owe  their  rapid  industrial 
development  essentially  to  the  protective  system.'  "  C.  A.  W. 


Good  Rules  for  Consumers ;  Suggestions  to  Producers ; 
Champagnes;  Dealers  in  Fine  Wines  not  Favoring 
the  Reduction  of  Tariff. 

London,  November  29th,  1878.— In  a  few  days  I  shall  be  on  the  ocean  again, 
returning  to  the  United  States,  intending,  as  usual,  to  remain  in  Washington  during 
the  Winter.  I  shall  therefore  conclude  my  correspondence  concerning  the  interests 
of  the  wine  and  spirit-producers  by  presenting  some  observations — which  I  must  put 
together  hastily,  without  regard  to  their  relevancy.  ***** 

THE    MERCHANTS 

Dealing  in  fine  wines  and  brandies  here  take  no  interest  in  the  proposition  to  reduce 
our  tariff.  They  all  say  that  their  trade  in  fine  articles  is  very  small  in  the  United 
States,  and  that  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  would  only  help  the  "rubbish"  to  still  fur- 
ther crowd  fine  articles  out  of  our  market.  None  of  them  favor  the  competition  of 
vin  de  cargaison  and  imitation  cognacs  against  our  native  products,  but  they  all  look 
for  an  increasing  trade  in  fine  articles  as  soon  as  the  use  of  pure,  natural  native  wines 
has  eradicated  the  taste  for  imitations  and  the  illusions  of  false  brands. 

They  all  complain  of  the  low  standard  of  commercial  honor  with  which  they  have 
to  compete  in  their  business  in  every  part  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Barnett,  of  Bar- 
nett  &  Son,  producers  of  Perinet  &  Fils'  champagne  and  dealers  in  cognacs,  says  that 
his  house  has  been  completely  "  licked  out — to  use  an  American  expression" — from 
our  markets  by  the  persistence  of  demands  for  false  marks.  For  instance,  an  agent, 
visiting  the  United  States,  showing  samples  of  different  vintages  of  brandy,  is  asked  to 
t)rward  the  1878,  which  is  the  newest,  but  on  condition  that  the  casks  are  branded 
"  1803,"  under  the  name  of  the  firm.  lie  says  that  he  has  abandoned  trying  to  do 
business  with  such  people;  for  honorable  m.erchants  do  not  care  to  lend  their  names 
to  assist  in  this  kind  of  robbery  of  consumers. 

Mr,  Curlier,  whom  I  have  frequently  seen  lately,  says,  without  hesitation,  that  he 
is  not  only  not  in  favor  of  a  reduction  of  our  tariff  on  spirits,  but  would  be  pleased 
even  if  it  were  raised  so  as  to  effectually  cut  out  the  fraudulent  stuff  exported  to  us  un- 
der the  name  of  cognac.  He  takes  a  lively  interest  in  our  vinicultural  progress,  and 
says  he  intends  making  a  visit  to  our  State  during  the  coming  Spring  or  Summer. 


133 

It  IS  probable  that  most  of  the  evils  of  spirit  drinking  in  the  United  States  arise 
from  the  use  of  spirits  fresh  from  the  distilleries,  retailed  as  "fine  old"  whisky, 
brandy,  gin,  etc.  In  England,  there  is  an  effort  being  made  to  prohibit  the  sale  of 
whisky  before  it  is  two  years  old. 

There  is  no  excuse  for  the  practice  of  retailers  in  selling  very  cheap  new  articles 
to  consumers  at  high  prices  and  under  the  representation  that  it  is  fine  and  old,  except, 
perhaps,  the  municipal  regulations,  which  permit  too  great  competition  among  the 
saloon-keepers  and  other  retailers.  The  greater  the  competition,  the  less  each  one 
sells,  and,  expenses  being  heavy,  the  greater  profit  he  requires  on  each  drink.  A  wise 
limitation  of  the  number  of  places  licensed  to  retail  liquors  would  enable  those  in  the 
business  to  furnish  better  qualities. 

This  excuse,  however,  cannot  be  pleaded  for  the  restaurants  and  hotels,  which 
extort  from  the  wine-consumers  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  per  cent,  profit. 

GOOD    RULES    FOR    WINE    AND    BRANDY-DRINKERS. 

It  would  be  well  for  the  consumers  who  are  willing  to  pay  reasonable  prices  for 
good  articles,  to  make  their  opposition  to  imposition  felt  by  retailers.  Let  them  order 
their  wines  through  respectable  importing  houses,  and  reject,  on  general  principles, 
the  fancy  brands  sent  to  us  to  be  sold  on  commission — unless  they  bear  the  marks  of 
well-known  firms,  which  take  care  to  preserve  their  reputations.  But,  as  I  have  be- 
fore shown,  there  is  very  little  genuine  fine  wine  shipped  to  us  now,  and  the  only  way 
to  increase  the  quantity  is  by  insisting  upon  good  qualities  of  natural  native  wine  at 
cheap  prices,  and  procuring  rare  imported  wines  by  special  orders.  Discrimination 
and  rebellion  on  the  part  of  the  consumer  will  force  the  retailers  to  purchase  better 
wines.  A  taste,  acquainted  with  the  acids,  flavors  and  bouquets  of  natural  native 
wines,  will  sooner  detect  impositions  in  foreign  wines  than  one  perverted  all  the  while 
by  imitations. 

The  casual  consumer  of  California  wines  must  not  permit  himself  to  be  hum- 
bugged and  misled  by  a  very  common  practice  of  selling  the  poorest  qualities  as 
native  wine  and  the  best  under  foreign  labels.  A  little  effort  will  soon  enable  the 
consumer  to  know  the  difference  between  a  wine  which  costs  the  restaurant  or  hotel 
only  fifty  cents  per  gallon  (five  bottles — ten  half  bottles)  and  one  that  costs  a  dollar  or 
a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  gallon.  You  pay  high  prices,  in  any  event;  you  are  entitled 
to  get  the  best  ordinary  wines,  at  least. 

Some  know  already  the  value  of  importing  wines  instead  of  using  those  exported 
to  us,  and  get  their  supplies  regularly  in  this  way.  When  in  Paris,  I  saw  that  Mr. 
Charles  Le  Gay  was  picking  up  quite  an  interesting  business  in  this  line,  supplying 
customers  to  order,  by  having  good  wines  forwarded  from  Bordeaux. 

A    SUGGESTION    TO    NATIVE    WINE    PRODUCERS. 

There  is  no  antagonism  between  genuine  vin  ordinaire  and  the  higher  priced 
rare  wines — vins  fins.  The  consumer  of  the  latter  must  rely  upon  the  former  for 
ordinary  use.  The  "  fine"  wines  are  also  limited  in  quantity  and  cannot  displace 
Ordinary  wines.  Hence  there  is  no  rivalry  between  high  priced  genuine  imported 
wines  and  cheaper  native  wines.  On  this  side  of  the  ocean,  all  the  houses,  dealing 
exclusively  in  fine  wines  and  brandies,  sympathise  with  our  native  producing  interests, 
for  it  is  upon  a  great  surface  of  popular  wines  of  ordinary  consumption  that  the  fine 
wines  arc  floated  to  market.  The  greater  the  consumption  of  the  former,  the  greater 
will  be  the  laf.er. 


134 

Our  producers  could  find  willing  co-operators  among  the  importers,  if  the  latter 
were  confined  to  the  trade  in  fine  wines.  This  co-operation  is  possible,  so  far  as  the 
reputation  of  houses  dealing  in  fine  articles  can  be  separated  from  others  and  made 
known  to  the  public.  A  constant  tendency  toward  such  co-operation  will  eventually 
improve  the  trade  and  educate  consumers  by  enabling  them  to  acquire  correct  habits 
of  taste.  Those  wine  and  brandy  merchants,  who  desire  to  honor  their  names  by 
their  business,  as  some  have  done  with  us,  and  as  more  have  done  in  England,  owe 
it  to  themselves  as  well  as  the  public  to  separal-e  and  free  themselves  from  the  ques- 
tionable practices  of  trade.  They  will  have  to  contend  against  the  violent  opposition 
of  the  retail  trade;  buc  they  will  win  as  soon  as  consumers  know  good  from  bad  and 
demand  the  former. 

The  legitimate  native  and  foreign  wine  trade  should  be  conducted  with  co-opera- 
tion, for  wine  drinking  can  never  become  popular  until  consumers  are  fairly  treated, 
and  there  can  be  no  fair  treatment  until  the  people  are  enabled  to  discriminate. 

In  speaking  of  "  fine  "  wines,  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as  indicating  that 
they  are  all  foreign.  This  is  the  mistake  that  enables  retailers  to  sell  under  foreign 
brands  our  finest  wines,  the  existence  of  which  few  of  the  people  know  at  all.  But  wine 
drinking  must  be  based  on  ordinary  cheap  wine,  and  imported  wines  cannot  success- 
fully fill  that  demand.     We  must  rely  upon  native  wines  for  this  basis. 

It  is,  therefore,  important  for  our  producers  to  cultivate  the  vines  which  produce  the 
best  ordinary  wines  to  suit  the  public  at  home. 

The  wine-drinker,  if  he  uses  wine  habitually,  must  cease  to  regard  it  as  a  luxury, 
except  when  he  indulges,  on  special  occasions,  or  near  the  end  of  his  dinner,  in  rare 
and  high-priced  articles.  It  is  because  wine  is  treated  as  a  luxury  with  us  that  the 
demand  for  fancy  labels  is  so  common.  People  who  call  for  good  ordinaiy  wine  will 
get  it,  after  a  while,  cheap  and  good,  and  will  save  their  pockets  from  robbery  and  the 
consciences  of  caterers  from  remorse. 

A  leading  wine  merchant  here  to-day  remarked  :  "  We  find  the  only  practical 
way  is  io  follow  the  taste  of  the  public,  rather  than  to  educate  it.  I  doubt  whether  the 
people  of  the  United  States  would  like  genuine  natural  wine,  sold  under  honest 
brands,  at  reasonable  prices,  as  well  as  they  do  vin  de  cargaison,  sold  at  high  prices, 
under  false  labels.  If  we  should  try  to  introduce  our  system  of  circulating  wine  in 
your  country,  we  should  get  a  bad  name,  because  nearly  all  the  trade  would  be  against 
us,  and  would  cry  us  down.  We  find  great  difficulty  even  in  England,  where  we  have 
been  established  a  long  time." 

If  the  pliysicians  and  chemists  would  join  hands  with  the  consumers,  and  so 
educate  a  genuine  popular  taste,  the  merchants  would  follow,  because  the  retailer 
would  be  obliged  to  please  his  customers. 

Governments,  however — Federal,  State,  and  IMunicipal — should  provide  the 
means  of  detecting  frauds,  and  should  compel  all  articles  intended  for  consumption 
to  bear  true  labels,  and  should  provide  easy  methods  for  prosecuting  such  swindlers 
as  are  now  so  common. 

If  whisky  is  made  from  alcohol,  distilled  to  a  high  degree  to  avoid  cost  of  trans- 
portation, reduced,  flavored  and  adulterated  with  fusel  oil  and  cheap  Hamburg  sher- 
ries and  Muscatel  wine,  the  public  should  have  a  way  to  distinguish  it  from  whisky, 
distilled  naturally,  at  low  degree,  and  improved  by  age  instead  of  by  sugar,  flavoring- 
extracts  and  aromatic  wines. 


135 

Immense  quantities  of  alcohol  are  shipped  from  Chicago  to  San  Francisco;  what 
is  done  with  it?     The  people  should  know. 

Fusel  oil  is  saved  at  Chicago  by  the  distillers  and  rectifiers.  What  is  done  with 
it  ?     I  saw  three  barrels  of  it  last  Spring  —destination,  Philadelphia. 

The  strictest  supervision  of  all  retailers,  with  a  view^  to  enabling  the  customer  to 
know  the  character  of  stocks  for  sale,  by  the  glass  or  bottle;  and  to  suppress  adultera- 
tions and  false  brands,  should  be  called  for  by  all,  and  especially  by  temperance  soci- 
eties. This  trade  should  be  no  exception  to  the  general  rule;  it  should  be  as  rigor- 
ously watched  as  the  meat  markets,  dairies,  and  municipal  water  companies. 

A  few  complaints  in  the  criminal  courts,  against  persons  obtaining  money  under 
false  pretenses,  would  have  a  healthful  influence. 

CHAMPAGNES. 

It  would  seem  strange  if  I  should  conclude  this  correspondence  without  saying 
something  about  champagnes. 

I  have  not  the  official  statements,  but,  in  general,  it  may  be  said  that  out 
of  20,000,000  bottles  produced  in  the  champagne  district,  all  but  2,000,000  are 
exported. 

The  French  are  not  fond  of  champagne,  and  what  they  drink  is  very  sweet.  In 
this  respect,  as  well  as  in  the  matter  of  beer,  they  are  strangely  inconsistent,  and  prove, 
to  some  extent,  that  their  good  palate  for  wine  tasting  is  more  a  matter  of  habit  than 
a  superior  delicacy  of  taste.  They  drink  dry,  well-fermented  red  wines,  when  they 
can  get  them,  which  they  generally  can  do;  but  they  use  villainous  unfermented 
yeast,  called  iod,  a  sickly,  syrupy  champagne,  and  heavy  sauternes,  made  from  the 
thick  juice  of  sun-baked  and  rotten  grapes.  There  are  exceptions  to  this,  but  the 
remark  is  true  when  generally  applied. 

The  public  should  know  that  champagnes,  like  cognacs,  are  not  the  products  of 
single  vineyards.  Just  as  the  farmers  in  the  Departments  of  the  Charentes  distil  the 
brandies,  which  the  cognac-maker,  purchase  for  blending,  reducing  and  sweetening, 
so  the  farmers  of  the  Champagne  district  (east  of  Paris)  produce  the  still  wines,  which 
the  champagne  manufacturers  use  to  convert  into  sparkling  wine.  So  far  as  the  sup- 
ply of  the  natural  wine  is  concerned,  Mumm,  Roederer,  Cliquot,  etc.,  arc  all  on  a 
level.  Each  has  an  equal  chance  to  get  the  material,  and  each  lays  in  stocks  in  the 
same  manner  and  nearly  in  the  same  proportion  of  one  class  of  wine  to  another. 

The  wines  useful  in  making  champagne  vary  greatly  in  price.  Most  of  them  are 
made  from  the  juice  of  purple  grapes,  fermented  widiout  the  skins  The  wine  from 
the  white  grapes  is  rare  and  high-priced,  but  would  not  be  liked  for  ordinary  con- 
sumption.    One  wine  is  selected  for  flavor,  another  for  bouquet,  another  for  body. 

The  difficulty  is  to  get  wines  strong  enough;  hence,  a  certain  degree  of  fortifica- 
tion with  spirits  is  necessary  to  bring  the  champagne  up  to  an  average  strength  of  13 
per  cent,  alcohol.  This  is  always  considered  the  great  defect  in  the  wine,  because 
the  addition  of  spirits  always  tends  to  destroy  the  bouquet,  is  an  expensive  operation 
and  causes  headaches. 

No  champagnes  for  the  general  market  arc  made  from  the  highest-priced  wine  of 
Ay  alone;  the  cost  would  be  too  great  and  the  result  would  not  please  the  market. 
In  the  cellars  of  the  manufacturers  arc  laid  away  of  stocks  old  wines,  in  casks,  which 
are  used  in  varying  proportions  wiin  the  new  wine. 


13^ 

The  new  wine  of  this  year's  vintage  will  be  used  for  making  champagne  next 
Spring,  after  being  clarified,  fortified,  and  dosed  with  tannin. 

In  order  to  produce  the  effervescence  the  new  wine  is  mixed  with  the  old,  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  syrup  of  sugar  candy  is  added,  and  the  whole  bottled. 

After  next  June  the  new  wine  ol  this  year  will  be  old  wine,  and  cannot  be  used 
to  make  champagnes,  except  with  the  addition  of  new  wine,  as  before,  of  a  succeed- 
ing vintage. 

It  is  by  reason  of  the  imperfect  fermentation  of  these  wines,  which  in  this  north- 
ern climate  do  not  ferment  thoroughly  in  the  Fall,  that  the  ordinary  Spring  after-fer- 
mentalion  becomes  useful  in  making  champagne.  If  you  were  to  take  any  ordinary 
wine  before  fermentation  is  complete,  and  bottle  it,  you  would  have  effervescent  wine; 
but  the  degree  of  effervescence  must  be  controlled  by  systematic  work.  Formerly 
the  breakage  of  bottles  in  the  champagne  district  used  to  be  as  great  as  forty  per  cent.; 
now  it  is  reduced  to  four  or  five  per  cent.  The  wines,  before  being  put  in  bottles, 
are  tested  to  determine  their  degree  of  sugar  and  fermentative  matter,  and  the  addi- 
tion of  prepared  syrup  is  made  by  careful  calculation,  so  as  not  to  exceed  the  required 
amount  necessary  to  produce  a  lasting  and  perfect  effervescence. 

The  champagne  bottle  is  nothing  more  than  an  air-tight  fermenting  cuve  ;  it  is 
turned  every  day,  shaken  and  forced  to  deposit  its  lees  against  the  cork.  When  this 
is  perfectly  accomplished,  it  is  disgorged,  the  force  of  the  wine  throwing  out  the  sedi- 
ment. The  bottle  is  then  re-filled  with  champagne,  to  which  the  requisite  sweetening 
is  added,  and  it  is  very  soon  ready  for  the  market. 

The  skill  in  making  champagne  depends  upon  the  proper  selection  and  blend- 
ing of  the  wines,  purchased  from  the  farmers,  in  the  proper  preparation  of  the  syrup, 
the  use  of  the  finest  spirits  distilled  to  a  high  degree  from  fine  brandy,  and  in  careful 
attention  to  the  bottles  while  fermenting  and  depositing  lees. 

A  few  old  houses  do  not  use  any  tannin  before  bottling,  but  they  have  great 
trouble  with  their  wines.  These  sickly  white  wines  of  the  north  of  France,  fermented 
without  the  skins  and  stems,  are  subject  to  a  disease  called  "grease"  (graisse),  which 
is  caused  by  a  want  of  sufficient  tannin.  This  is  the  trouble  with  the  white  wines 
from  which  fine  cognac  is  produced  ;  they  will  not  keep  a  year,  but  become  thick 
and  slimy.  The  addition  of  tannin  preserves  the  wine ;  in  the  south  of  France  they 
use  sulphate  of  lime  to  precipitate  the  excess  fermentative  matter — a  very  objectiona- 
ble practice. 

Champagne  is  called  after  the  year  of  the  vintage  of  the  new  wine.  Hence, 
wine  made  next  Spring  will  be  called  "  1878,"  notwithstanding  the  portion  of  older 
wine  mixed  with  the  new.  The  vintages  vary  from  year  to  year,  as  all  the  wines  of 
France  do,  more  especially  those  in  the  north  of  France,  where  the  seasons  are  so 
variable.  This  year  the  crop  commands  a  high  price,  but  is  not  considered  a  good 
one,  on  account  of  the  low  degree  of  alcoholic  strength.  Some  of  the  manufacturers 
have  declined  to  lay  in  any  stocks. 

There  are  large  houses  which  manufacture  champagnes  on  "speculation."  They 
rely  upon  the  demands  of  those  which  have  acquired  popularity  for  their  marks,  and 
which  may  run  out  of  stock.  For  instance,  I  was  told  that  G.  H.  Alumm  had  to  pur- 
chase, not  long  ago,  250,000  bottles  from  "speculators."  Mumm  has  adverdsed 
and  pushed  his  wine  until  the  demand  for  his  brand  is  greater  than  his  own  supply. 
This  is  easily  remedied  by  using  the  wines  of  another  house. 


^37 

Champagnes  are,  therefore,  made  anywhere,  when  a  suitable  supply  of  white 
wine  can  be  obtained.  I  do  not  speak  of  such  wines  as  those  bottled  in  New  York 
City,  and  which  are  manufactured  by  the  injection  of  carbonic  acid  gas  into  old  wine ; 
such  wines  are  merely  imitations,  and  are  simply  soda-wines,  made  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple  as  soda-water. 

The  pretension  that  champagnes  can  only  be  made  in  the  Champagne  district  is 
based  soley  on  the  fact  that  the  natural  wines  of  other  places  do  not  exactly  resem- 
ble those  of  Champagne,  and  are  not  subject  to  after  fermentation.  In  the 
Champagne  district,  however,  the  fame  was  made  upon  the  wines  of  Ay,  which  now 
can  enter  into  the  blendings,  only  in  a  small  proportion;  hence  the  distinction  be- 
tween sparkling  wines  of  the  Champagne  district  and  those  of  other  places  becomes 
less  and  less  as  the  manufacture  increases. 

Nearly  all  the  great  champagne  houses,  well  known  to  our  people,  are  in  the 
city  of  Rheims,  besides  many  more  which  have  not  pushed  their  wines  on  our  mar- 
kets. There  is  great  virtue  in  advertising  champagnes  and  in  studying  the  taste  of 
different  markets.  Roederer  wine  sent  to  England  differs  from  what  is  sent  to  Rus- 
sia, or  what  is  consumed  in  France.  The  chief  difference  is  in  the  sweetness;  but 
for  a  market  demanding  much  sugar,  the  manufacturers  do  not  use  the  highest-priced 
old  wines  for  giving  flavor,  for  the  sugar  would  simply  waste  the  finest  delicacies  by 
covering  them  up.  Dry  wines  are  the  most  difficult,  because  the  syrup  cannot  be  used 
t9  cover  defects;  hence  the  English  market  now  demands  the  dryest  wines,  the 
United  States  next.  In  the  matter  of  champagnes  we  are  better  judges  than  we  are 
in  clarets  and  sherries,  though  we  are  humbngged  by  illusions  of  brands.  Most  peo- 
ple imagine  that  Mumm  and  others  produce  champagne  from  one  vineyard.  Mumm 
makes  dry  and  sweet  wines,  fine  and  ordinary,  according  to  demand,  purchasing  ma- 
terial in  the  market  which  is  open  to  all.  Wines  may  be  blended  before  bottling  so 
as  to  cost  in  degrees  varying  several  hundred  per  cent,  one  more  than  the  other. 
This  must  be  done  each  year,  a  standard  of  cost  and  quality  being  the  problem  to 
work  out  in  the  factory  with  wine  from  a  dozen  of  vineyards. 

I  visited  the  manufactory  of  Barnett  &  Son,  at  Rheims.  They  succeed  to  the  right 
of  using  the  brand,  "Perinet  et  Fils,"  known  better  in  England  and  Germany  than 
in  the -United  States.  They  are  beginning  to  introduce  their  wines  in  the  United 
States,  and  I  was  afforded  an  opportunity  to  sample  the  same  kind  that  they  have  now 
on  the  way  to  San  Francisco.  It  is  a  heavier-bodied  wine  than  most  of  that  which 
is  consumed  in  the  United  States,  and,  for  that  reason,  will  be  liked  by  those  who 
know  sound  wine  from  weak  stuff. 

The  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  champagne  producers  is  to  overcome  the 
prejudices  in  favor  of  brands,  though,  when  popularity  is  obtained,  the  successful 
ones  fight  with  each  other  to  retain  the  advantage  of  prejudice.  The  great  houses, 
like  G.  H.  Mumm  and  Heidsicck,  e.xpend  a  fortune  every  year  in  this  way.  Pom- 
mery  is  getting  a  name  now,  by  means  of  skillful  pushing.  Messrs.  Barnett  &  Son 
attempted  to  secure  a  connection  with  a  popular  house  in  New  York,  and  were  told 
that  the  agency  would  be  accepted  on  condition  that  they  would  guarantee  eight 
thousand  dollars  per  annum  for  three  years,  twenty  per  cent,  on  sales  and  a  part  of 
agents'  traveling  expenses. 

Consumers  who  know  these  facts  will  not  increase  the  difficulties  of  placing  wines 
upon  the  market  by  demanding  so  much  label  at  so  much  cost,     "  Good  wine  "  dots, 


138 

perhaps,  need  '•  push,"  for  there  are  few  who  will  trust  their  own  taste  to  say  whether 
a  wine  is  good,  if  they  have  not  heard  it  talked  about  before. 

I  have  heard  something  of  the  difficulty  in  getting  good  California  champagnes 
introduced.  People  like  the  wine  well  enough,  but  don't  think  it  is  stylish  to  use  a 
wine  that  has  not  been  sulTiciently  advertised. 

There  is  much  more  of  interest  in  champagnes,  but  I  shall  not  attempt  to  pursue 
the  subject  further  at  present.  I  think  that  I  have  "  done  my  duty  "  to  our  producers 
and  consumers,  so  far  as  steady  work  is  concerned,  and  I  shall  not  apologize  for  giv- 
ing up  these  questions  for  the  few  days  that  I  have  now  to  remain  in  England.  I 
have  been  able  to  get  together  about  500  pounds  weight  of  books  on  these  subjects, 
which  I  hoDe  to  make  useful  hereafter.  C.  A.  W. 


APPENDIX 


[No.  2.] 


To  the   Statcine7it  of  Mr.    Arpad   Haraszthy ,  President   of  the 
California  State    Vi^iiadttiral  Society. 


!dO 


Reports  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  United  States 
Senate  relating  to  Fortified,  Falsified  and  Adult- 
erated Wines. 


IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


February  25,  1879. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  Jones,  of  Nevada,  from  the  Committee  on  Finance,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT : 

The  Committee  on  Finance,  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  to  direct  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  transmit  to  the  Senate  certain  information  relating  to  fermented  and 
alcoholic  liquors,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration,  respectfully  report ; 

The  resolution  provides  :  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  directed  to 
transmit  to  the  Senate,  as  early  as  is  practicable,  such  information  as  may  be  in  the 
possession  of  the  Treasury  Department,  or  that  may  be  obtained  from  collectors  of 
customs  and  through  any  other  agencies  of  the  department,  shozving  the  relative  quan- 
tities and  natures  of  the  various  kinds  of  fermented  and  alcoholic  liquors  imported 
into  the  United  States  from  foreign  countries;  the  percentage  of  absolute  alcohol 
contained  in  each  of  the  several  kinds:  the  relative  quantities  of  imported  wines  which 
are  fortified  with  alcohol  and  exceed  in  strength  18  per  cent,  of  absolute  alcohol,  and 
on  which  the  tariff  for  still  wines  is  collected;  the  relative  quantities  of  such  imported 
articles  that  are  re-exported  without  paying  customs-taxes;  together  with  such  inform- 
ation as  the  department  possesses  or  may  obtain,  showing  in  what  proportion  these 
articles  are  imported  from  different  countries;  and,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  the  original 
sources  of  such  articles  or  any  of  their  ingredients  when  the  same  are  imported  from 
countries  which  do  not  produce  them. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  also  directed  to  inform  the  Senate  concerning 
the  facilities  which  the  Treasury  Department  has,  or  may  require,  for  the  prevention 
of  the  importation  of  falsified,  adulterated,  and  falsely  labeled  or  designated  fermented 
and  alcoholic  beverages;  also  to  inform  the  Senate  to  what  extent  the  commerce  and 
public  revenues  of  the  United  States  may  be  affected  by  taxing  wines  fortified  with 
alcohol,  according  to  the  tax  on  spirits  for  each  degree  of  alcohol  contained  in  such 


wines  in  excess  of  13  per  cent.;  also  to  furnish  a  statenaent  showing  the  quantities  of 
alcohols,  wines,  and  other  alcoholic  liquors,  produced  in  this  country,  which  are  ex- 
ported to  foreign  countries,  and  the  des'inations  of  the  same,  showing  also  their  alco- 
holic strength  and  other  characteristics. 

The  laws  of  the  United  States  permit  the  entry  of  foreign  still  wines  upon  pay- 
ment to  the  collectors  of  customs  of  a  specific  tax  of  forty  cents  per  gallon  for  wines 
in  wood,  or  one  dollar  and  sixty  cents  per  case,  containing  twelve  quart  bottles,  or 
twenty-four  half  or  pint  bottles ;  provided  such  wines  do  not  contain  more  than  twenty- 
four  per  cent,  of  absolute  alcohol.  All  wines  containing  more  than  twenty-four  per 
cent,  of  alcohol  must  be  entered  subject  to  the  tax  on  spirits,  viz  :  two  dollars  per 
proof  gallon. 

It  is  important  that  the  Senate  should  be  provided  with  the  information  called 
for  in  the  first  paragraph  of  the  resolution,  in  order  that  it  may  be  known  what  quan- 
tities of  distilled  spirits  are  admitted  at  the  same  rate  of  taxation  as  that  to  which 
natural  or  unfortified  wines  are  subjected.  The  law  makes  no  distinction  between 
natural  and  fortified  wines. 

Natural  wines,  which  are  the  products  of  simple  fermentation  of  grape-juice, 
according  to  the  best  authorities,  seldom  contain  more  than  thirteen  per  cent,  of  abso- 
lute alcohol.  Those  which  contain  fifteen  per  cent,  are  rarely  found.  The  natural 
wines,  generally  consumed,  contain  less  than  twelve  per  cent.  "  ■ 

Wines  containing  more  than  thirteen  per  cent.,  with  few  if  any  exceptions,  owe 
the  excess  of  alcohol  to  an  addition  of  distilled  spirits. 

The  subject  of  the  natural  strength  of  pure  wines  has,  at  different  times,  engaged 
the  attention  of  governments,  actuated  by  motives  of  regard  both  for  the  public  health 
and  public  revenues.  Under  the  authority  of  the  British  government,  in  the  year 
1861,  there  was  instituted  an  exhaustive  inquiry  "into  the  strengths  of  wine  in  the 
principal  wine-growing  countries  in  Europe."  According  to  the  reports  of  this 
inquiry,  the  British  government  determined,  for  purposes  of  taxation  under  the  custom 
laws,  as  the  limit  of  alcoholic  strength  of  natural  wines,  twenty-six  per  cent  of  proof- 
spirit — the  proof-spirit  being  nearly  equal  volumes  of  pure  water  and  absolute  alcohol, 
which  would  consequently  be  a  percentage  in  volume  of  about  thirteen  of  absolute 
alcohol.  Wines  containing  more  than  twenty-six  per  cent,  of /r£'(y-spirit  are  sub- 
jected to  duty  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent,  more  than  that  imposed  upon  natural 
•wine. 

In  France  the  questions  growing  out  of  the  fortifications  of  wines  have  been  nu- 
merous, and  have  engaged  the  most  serious  attention  of  the  government,  the  Academy 
of  Science,  and  the  medical  profession.  The  law  throws  every  possible  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  the  practices,  which  had  become  common,  of  adding  spirits  to  wine  in- 
tended for  consumption  in  France,  but  permits  the  unlimited  fortification  of  wines  for 
exportation,  the  spirits  or  alcohols  used  for  such  puri)ose  being  freed  from  all  taxation. 
The  government  prohibits  the  mixture  of  any  foreign  alcohol  with  French  wines, 
except  when  such  mixture  is  to  be  exported.  Foreign  wines  imported  under  the  con- 
ditions of  the  general  tariff  and  containing  more  than  fourteen  per  cent,  of  alcohol 
must  pay  the  duty  on  alcohol  for  the  quantity  in  excess  of  that  limit. 

For  similar  reasons,  respecting  the  })ublic  health  and  the  public  revenues,  it  ap- 
pears to  your  committee  to  be  important  that  a  careful  statement  should  be  prepared 
for  the  use  of  the  Senate,  showing  the  relative  strength,  (luantiiies,  and  kinds  of  wines 


142 

that  are  imported  and  consumed  in  this  country,  together  with  such  information  as 
may  be  obtained  describing  the  kinds  of  alcohols  that  are  used  in  the  fortification  of 
imported  wines,  and  the  sources  from  which  they  are  imported. 

It  has  been  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  this  committee  that  foreign  alcohols  of 
different  kinds  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  various  alcoholic  liquors  imported, 
many  of  which  arc  imitations  of  genuine  products,  and  we  therefore  deem  it  to  be 
important  to  obtain,  as  a  basis  for  further  inquiry,  a  careful  statement  showing  the  rel- 
ative quantities,  kinds,  and  characteristics  of  all  fermented  and  alcoholic  liquors, 
which  are  imported  from  foreign  countries,  together  with  information  relating  to  the 
sources  Irom  which  they,  or  any  of  their  ingredients,  are  originally  obtained. 

The  attention  of  the  government  has  been  called  on  several  occasions  to  the 
necessity  of  protecting  consumers  against  the  entry  of  falsified  and  adulterated  wines 
and  liquors,  especially  through  the  reports  of  officers  of  the  consular  service.  The 
government  of  France  has  for  several  years  been  waging  vigorous  warfare  against  fal- 
sifiers and  adulterators  of  wines  circulating  in  that  country,  of  which  notice  has  been 
made  in  the  reports  of  American  consuls  ;  but  no  assurance  has  been  given  that  wines 
exported  to  our  ports  are  entirely  free  from  the  adulterations  which  are  more  easily 
detected  in  wines  when  circulated  in  France.  The  practices  of  adulterating  with 
fuchsinc  and  other  deleterious  matters  are  known  to  exist  in  Spain,  and  may  j)ussibly 
exist  in  other  couniries  ;  but  we  have  no  authentic  information  to  determine  to  what 
extent  such  practices  prevail,  nor  to  what  degree  they  may  affect  the  wines  and  liquors 
imported  into  this  countr}'.  Some  proper  and  efficient  supervision  over  the  imported 
articles  should  be  exercised  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  articles,  inlendcd  for  con- 
sumption, which  may  contain  poisonous  or  injurious  ingredients,  unnaturally  com- 
pounded with  fermented  and  alcoholic  liquors.  A  report  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  concerning  the  facilities  jwssessed  or  required  by  the  Treasury  Department 
for  the  prevention  of  such  evils  is  much  to  be  desired. 

It  may  be  possible  also  to  devise  proper  and  eflicient  methods  for  the  prevention 
of  impositions  practiced  under  cover  of  false  labels.  The  invoices  of  wines  and 
spirits  imported  show,  in  many  cases,  remarkable  discrepancies  between  the  declared 
values  of  the  articles  shipped  at  foreign  ports  and  the  market  values  of  the  same  in 
.such  ports,  affording  presumptive  evidence  of  fraudulent  labels  or  marks  designating 
the  contents  of  bottles  or  casks. 

A  comparative  statement  of  the  strengths  of  wine  imported  would  show  to  what 
extent  spirits  or  alcohols  have  been  added  to  them.  This  commiiiec  is  informed  that 
large  quantities  of  white  and  red  wines  are  imported,  one-fifth  of  ihc  volume  of  which 
is  proof-spirits,  in  addition  to  llie  natural  strength  of  the  wine,  or  to  which  from  ten 
to  twelve  per  cent,  of  absolute  alcohol  has  been  added.  Such  fortified  wines,  not  ex- 
ceeding in  strength  24  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  are  admitted  in  wood  at  the  rate  of  duty 
of  40  cents  per  gallon.  The  addition  of  alcohol  is  permitted  free  of  taxation  in 
France  and  other  foreign  countries  when  the  wines  are  not  to  be  exported.  The 
United  States  tariff  of  only  forty  cents  per  gallon  upon  the  .spirits  thus  contained  in 
imported  wines  operates,  therefore,  to  the  great  disadvantage  of  producers  of  swett 
American  wines,  sherries,  etc.,  when  the  latter  require  to  be  fortified,  because  the 
American  producer  is  required  to  pay  upon  all  domestic  spirits  the  internal  revenue 
rate  of  tax  of  ninety  cents  per  proof-gallon,  being  fifty  cents  more  than  the  tax  im- 
posed by  the  tariff  on  the  spirits  contained  in  the  imported  wines.     This  discrimina- 


143 

tion  in  favor  of  a  foreign  industry  encourages  tlic  importation  of  a  class  of  wines  known 
as  imitations  of  port,  sherry,  etc.,  i)roduccd  in  INIarseilles,  Cette,  Hamburg,  and  other 
places;  and  while  discouraging  American  industry  of  the  same  nature,  results  in  a 
considerable  loss  to  the  public  revenues.  It  is  desirable  that  the  Senate  should  know- 
to  what  extent  the  public  revenues  may  be  affected  by  the  adoption  of  a  system  of 
taxation  similar  to  that  of  France,  whereby  the  excess  of  alcohol  in  fortified  wines  may 
be  subjected  to  the  ordinary  tax  on  spirits.  If  this  plan  should  not  be  considered 
favorable  to  the  collection  of  revenue  and  to  commerce,  the  committee  is  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  Secretary  should  be  directed  to  report  upon  the  propriety  of  permitting 
the  proper  use  of  brandy  in  fortifying  native  sweet  wines  and  liquors  upon  payment  of 
a  reduced  internal  revenue  tax,  so  as  to  afford  equal  advantages  to  the  American  in- 
dustries that  are  granted  to  the  foreign. 

There  is  now  a  growing  exportation  of  American  alcohols,  wines,  and  other  alco- 
holic liquids.  It  is  important  that  the  Senate  should  be  informed  concerning  the  na- 
ture, extent,  and  direction  of  this  trade  in  connection  with  the  other  information 
sought  for,  in  order  to  determine,  if  possible,  in  what  manner,  or  under  what  condi- 
tions, such  alcohols  may  be  reimportcd  in  fortified  wines  or  in  imitation  brandies 
and  other  liquors. 

Wc  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  said  resolution  (Mis.  Doc.  No.  Gl). 


IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


February  25,  1879. — Ordered  to  be  printed. 


]\Ir.  Jones,  of  Nevada,  from  the  Committee  on  Finance,  submitted  the  following 

REPORT : 

The  Committee  on  Finance,  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  (Mis.  Doc,  No.  C2^ 
directing  the  Secretary  of  Slate  to  transmit  to  the  Senate  certain  information  relating 
to  ferftiented  and  alcoholic  liquors,  having  had  the  same  under  consideration,  respect- 
fully report  .•  ■ 

The  resolution  provides — 

That  the  Secretary  of  State  be  directed  to  transmit  to  the  Senate,  as  early  as  prac- 
ticable, any  information  in  the  possession  of  the  State  Department,  or  that  may  l)e 
obtained  through  the  consular  service,  relating  to  the  methods  of  production  ami 
preparation,  and  the  nature  of  the  various  kinds  of  fermented  and  alcoholic  liquors 
imported  into  the  United  States  from  foreign  ports,  at  which  arc  stationed  officers  of 
the  consular  service  of  the  United  States ;  also,  relating  to  the  laws  and  customs  of 
trade  in  force  and  prevailing  at  such  ports  affecting  the  purity  of  such  liquors,  and 
the  genuineness  of  labels  and  marks  designating  them,  and  to  what  extent  such  laws 
and  customs,  and  the  regulations  of  the  consular  service,  prevent  or  encourage  the 
impcxtalion  into  the  United  States  of  falsified,  adulterated,  and  falsely  designated  wines 
and  other  alcoholic  liquors  ;  also,  to  inform  the  Senate  as  to  what  legislation  may  be 


144 

necessan-,  if  any,  for  the  regnlation  of  the  consular  service,  in  order  to  encourag:e  the 
commerce  only  in  pure  and  genuine  \vincs,  brandies,  and  other  alcoholic  liquors,  and 
to  prevent  the  importation  of  falsifications,  adulterated  compounds,  and  falsely  labeled 
articles  ;  also,  to  furnish  the  Senate  such  information  as  may  be  obtained  concerning 
the  internal  systems  of  taxation,  or  prohibitions,  which  may  affect  the  exports  of  the 
United  States  to  foreign  countries,  in  addition  to  the  tariffs  or  customs  taxes  of  such 
countries,  and,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  concerning  the  quantities  of  American  alcohols 
and  other  articles  exported  from  the  United  States  which  are  consumed  in  the  coun- 
tries to  which  they  are  exported,  or,  if  re-exported,  the  ultimate  destinations  of  such 
articles  ;  also,  information  showing  what  proportions  of  articles  imported  into  the 
United  States  are  the  products  of  the  countries  from  which  they  are  so  imported,  and 
the  original  sources  of  ariicles  imported  from  countries  not  producing  the  same  ;  also, 
showing  the  nature,  characteristics,  quantities,  and  values  of  alcoholic  liquors  imported 
into  foreign  p>orts  from  any  countries  other  than  the  United  States. 

The  practice  of  falsifying,  adulterating,  and  falsely  labeling  fermented  and  alco- 
holic liquors  in  several  of  the  foreign  countries,  from  which  such  articles  are  imported 
into  the  United  States,  have  been  well  known  to  the  public  for  many  years. 

In  his  report  of  January,  18G7,  Mr.  Lytton,  then  the  secretary  of  the  British 
legation,  at  Lisbon,  informed  the  British  government  "that  all  port  wine,  hith- 
erto exported  for  the  English  market,  is  largely  mixed  with  brandy,  and  is  com- 
posed almost  quite  as  much  of  cldcr-berries  as  of  grapes  ;"  that  "no  wine  not  thus 
specially  adulterated  for  the  English  taste  was  allowed  by  the  government  committee 
of  tasters  to  pass  the  bar  of  the  Douro  before  the  year  1865."  "  The  Paiz  Vinhateiro," 
he  said,  "  abounds  in  elder  trees.  The  berries  of  these  tiees  are  dried  in  the  sun  or 
in  kilns,  the  wine  is  then  thrown  on  them,  and  the  berries  are  trodden  (as  previously 
the  grapes)  till  it  is  thoroughly  saturated  with  the  coloring  matter  of  the  berries, 
brandy  is  then  added  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  sixteen  gallons  to  every  pipe  of  115 
gallons.     This  is  the  composition  of  all  the  port  wine  hitherto  drunk  in  England." 

It  is  asserted  that  the  methods  now  pursued  in  Portugal  are  different  and  have 
been  improved;  also,  on  the  other  hand,  that  th:5  high  price  and  scarcity  of  brandy, 
or  the  spirits  distilled  from  wine,  cause  coarse  spirits,  distilled  from  potatoes  and  oiher 
starchy  substances,  to  be  used  largely  in  the  process  of  fortification.  "  Our  best  cus- 
tomers for  spirits,"  said  Ridley's  Wine  Trade  Circular,  in  18G5,  "  arc  the  Portuguese 
wine  growers,  who  have  taken  upwards  of  1,500,003  gallons  to  fortify  their  unfer- 
mented  juice.  In  1864  we  received  from  the  Portuguese  3,344,871  gallons  of  port 
wine.     They  took  from  England  1,030,304  gallons  of  spirits." 

Mr.  Lytton's  statement,  which  at  the  time  it  was  published,  called  forth  a  contro- 
versy with  the  wine  merchants  of  England,  was  as  follows: 

"I  have  frankly  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  ]\Ir.  Johnstone,  of  the  testing  depart- 
ment of  the  London  custom-house,  my  own  estimate  of  the  quantity  of  adventitious 
spirit  admitted  into  the  composition  of  port  wine,  and  that  gentleman  not  only  assures 
me  that  my  estimate  is  a  moderate  one,  but  he  has  also  had  the  kindness  to  favor  me 
with  his  own,  derived  from  long  observation  of  the  results  of  the  application  of  the 
alcoholic  test  to  port  wines,  since  that  test  was  first  adopted  to  the  present  day,  as  well 
as  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  the  details  of  the  manufacture,  and  a  comprehensive 
and  impartial  examination  of  all  existing  evidence  upon  the  subject,  I  subjoin  this 
estimate.     '  I  find,'  says  Mr.  Johnstone  (writing  to  mc  ia  reply  to  ray  questions  upon 


145 

this  subject),  'that  the  strength  of  the  spirit  commonly  used  in  Portugal  varies  from  45 
per  cent.  O.  P.  to  50  per  cent.  O.  P.,  and  I  assume  it  at  its  lowest,  viz.,  50  per  cent. 
But  the  German  spirit  now  so  largely  imported  for  fortifying  purposes  into  wine-grow, 
ing  countries  is  often  as  high  as  70  per  cent.,  and  rarely  below  07  per  cent. 

"  '  The  composition  applies,  in  this  instance,  to  the  higher  qualities  of  port  wine. 
To  the  half-fermented  wine  there  arc  added,  to  check  the  fermentation,  first — 

Gallons  of 
proof  spirit. 

25  gallons  brandy,  at  45  deg.,  equal  to 3G.25 

And  say,     5  gallons  gcropiga. 

Then,         6  gallons  more  of  brandy,  equal  to 8.70 

Again,        2  gallons  more  after  racking,  equal  to 2.90 

And,           1  gallon  more  on  shipment,  equal  to 1.45 

39  liquid  gallons,  equal  to , .., 49.30 

76  of  wine. 

Total,     115  gallons  of  port  wine. 

"i'  That  would  be,'  he  continues, '  of  proof  spirit,  upon  the  pipe  of  115  gallons,  a 
little  above  the  maximum  of  42  degrees,  at  the  higher  dut}'  of  2^-.  G:/." 

In  the  south  of  France  and  in  Spain,  gypsum  (sulphate  of  lime)  is  largely  used 
in  fermenting  wines,  the  object  being  to  preserve  the  products  from  spoiling  by  reason 
of  an  excess  of  fermentative  matter  contained  in  the  grape  juice.  The  result  of  this 
practice  is  to  leave  in  the  wine  a  sulphate  of  potash,  which  is  a  drug  not  found  in 
natural  wine. 

Dr.  Thudicum,  a  celebrated  English  chemist,  in  a  lecture  delivered  December 
22,  1869,  at  the  Society  of  Arts,  said: 

"Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  French  wines  of  the  south  arc  plastered  ;  that  is  to  say, 
plaster  of  Paris  is  dusted  over  the  grapes  immediately  after  they  are  gathered,  or  while 
ihey  are  on  the  press,  or  while  they  arc  in  the  state  of  must.  Dr.  Dupr6  and  myself 
h.vc  been  unable  to  find  out  the  logic  of  that  practice.  If  it  is  intended  to  make  the 
wine  stronger,  it  fails,  for  plaster  unites  with  little  more  than  one-fourth  its  weight  of 
water  ;  but  the  gypsum  formed  incloses  mechanically  a  quantity  of  must,  and  reduces 
the  total  yield,  so  that  50  per  cent,  of  plaster  will  retain  fully  half  ihc  juice,  and  raise 
the  sugar  in  the  remaining  half  from  13  to  15  per  cent.  only,  and  lesser  quantities  in 
proportion.  But  plaster  will  diminish  the  free  acid  of  the  wine,  in  proportion  to  its 
quantity,  from  5  to  0  5  per  mille.  It  will  do  more  ;  it  will  decompose  the  tartrates, 
and  form  sulphates,  and  thus  change  wines  into  drugs.  In  fact,  all  cherries  contain 
considerable  quantities  of  sulphate  of  potassium,  to  which  many  varieties  owe  their 
bitter  taste  end  their  purgative  action.  I  am  quite  open  to  instruction  on  the  use  of 
plastering,  but  l:avc  lought  it  in  vain  of  some  large  producers  or  importers  of  sherry. 
No  doubt,  the  20  per  cent,  cf  alcohcl  in  cherry  is  a  frequent  cause  of  kidney  affec- 
tion ;  but  the  cause  is,  at  least,  doubled  l:y  the  potassium  salt.  I  vote  for  sherry 
without  plaster  acid,  and  Ic^s  than  16  per  cent,  of  alcohol ;  such  sherry  will  require 
neither  camomile  nor  nitric  ether  for  a  flavor.  I  vote  for  not  changing  ripe 
must  into  unripe  by  removing  wine  acid  and  leaving  LOur-applc  acid.  I  delight  in  a 
glass  of  Amontillado,  or  even  in  cheap  '  Vino  do  Arenas  \ '  but  I  gladly  leave  the 


146  * 

drink  of  tincture  of  Glaul^cr's  salts   to  the  old  gentlemen  who,  as  the  phrase  goes, 
'cannot  get  anything  dry  enough.'  " 

Dr.  Duprc,  lecturer  and  professor  of  chemistry  at  the  Westminister  Hospital,  in 
the  course  of  the  discussion  which  followed  upon  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Thudicum,  at 
the  Society  of  Arts,  above  referred  to,  said  : 

"Moreover,  the  acids  in  wine  varied  considerably.  Some  contained  chiefly  tar- 
taric acid  ;  in  fact,  it  was  the  general  superstition  that  this  was  the  prevailing  acid  of 
wine  ;  but  this  was  by  no  means  the  case,  for  port  and  sherry  contained  scarcely  any. 
Port  being  of  too  great  alcoholic  strength,  the  alcohol  precipitated  the  acid  in  the  form 
of  tartrate  ;  and  sherry,  because  the  plastering  to  which  it  was  subjected  removed 
nearly  all  the  tartaric  acid  and  replaced  it  by  sulphate  of  potassa,  a  very  aciive  salient 
agent  which,  like  most  salts  of  potassa,  had  a  very  depressing  action  on  the  heart. 
Now,  wine  was  very  frequently  given  to  keep  up  the  action  of  the  heart,  which,  as  all 
j)hysiologists  knew,  was  often  of  extreme  importance,  and  could  be  effected  no  way 
so  well  as  by  the  administration  of  alcohol  or  wine  ;  but  it  might  often  happen,  in  the 
case  of  sherry,  the  slight  stimulating  action  produced  by  the  alcohol  would  be  en- 
tirely counteracted  by  the  contrary  effect  produced  by  the  sulphate  of  potassa.'' 

Dr.  Thudicum,  in  a  letter  to  the  London  Times,  also  remarked  concerning  Span- 
isli  sherries  : 

"  The  common  varieties  of  must  are  not  only  plastered,  but  also  impregnated 
with  the  fumes  by  combustion  of  about  five  ounces  of  sulphur  per  butt,  which  adds 
about  a  pound  of  sulphuric  acid  to  that  brought  in  by  the  plaster." 

The  French  government  instituted  inquiries  into  the  practice  of  using  gypsum  ii^ 
wines  used  by  the  army,  the  results  of  which  established  the  fact,  as  charged,  but.  it 
was  considered  not  injurious  to  the  public  health. 

Other  adulterations  are  known  to  be  practiced  in  France  and  Spain,  the  object  of 
which  is  to  color  mixtures  of  red  and  white  wines,  and  to  cover  additions  of  water. 
Mr.  P.  J.  Osterhaus,  United  States  Consul  at  Lyons,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  made  October  31,  187 G,  said  : 

"  The  French  ministr}^,  in  response  to  calls  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  has  or- 
dered the  police  to  give  its  attention  to  the  alleged  coloring  of  wines  by  artificial 
means,  and  to  subject  all  wine  depots  of  merchants,  dealers,  hotels,  restaurants,  etc., 
to  the  most  searching  control,  and  to  hand  over  all  falsifiers  to  the  courts.  The  pro- 
tection of  the  public  health,  as  well  as  the  true  interests  of  the  trade,  justify  the  rigor- 
ous instructions  of  the  minister,  and,  undoubtedly,  they  will  have  a  salutary  effect,  so 
far  as  France  is  concerned.  Equally  strict  control  on  the  part  of  importing  nations, 
as  to  the  pureness  and  genuineness  of  the  imported  articles,  is  not  superfluous." 

The  coloring  agent  most  feared  by  the  French  people  is  fuchsinc — an  extract 
from  petroleum  used  in  dyeing.  French  chemists  have  published  numerous  works 
describing  the  various  falsifications  of  wines,  and  furnishing  information  showing  how 
the  frauds  may  be  detected.  Among  these  valuable  works  is  one  published  in  1877 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  E.  J.  Armand  Gautier,  of  the  faculty  of  medicine  of  Paris,  and 
director  of  the  laboratory  of  biological  chemistry.      Dr.  Gautier  says  : 

•'  For  se^-eral  years  the  fraudulent  practices  of  coloration  and  watering  of  wines 
have  spread  more  and  more,  and  tend  to  pass  from  the  shop  of  the  retail  merchant  to 
the  cellars  of  the  great  dealers,  and  even  to  vine-growers.  The  artificial  coloration  of 
wines,  which  had  been  attempted  only  by  a  small  number  of  operators  of  low  grade. 


147 

has  become  so  common  that  it  is  hy  tons  that  must  be  counted  the  quantities  of  coche- 
nille,  Phytolacca,  mau'^c  wwt:  (black  mallow),  elder-bcirics,  fuchsinc,  that  arc  sold  an- 
nually in  a  single  city,  such  as  Muntpellier,  Bezicrs,  Narbonne,  or  Paris.  The  elevated 
prices  of  the  crop  of  1873,  the  lack  of  color  and  of  body  of  the  wines  of  1875,  the 
excessive  octroi  taxes  of  certain  cities,  and  particularly  of  Paris,  have  advanced  these 
dangerous  practices  to  the  highest  degree.  The  notoriety  and  the  increasing  skill  of 
merchants  dealing  in  matters  destined  to  color  wines;  their  advertisements,  scarcely 
dissimulated,  through  the  medium  of  journals  and  pamphlets,  or  through  the  efforts 
of  their  agents;  the  enormous  gains  realized  by  the  sale  of  coloring  materials,  of  small 
value,  employed  to  adulterate  millions  of  hectolitres;  in  fine,  the  impunity  of  the  re- 
tailers of  these  dangerous  substances,  the  judicial  convictions  striking  oftener  the  wine 
producer  or  the  wine  merchant,  excited  to  fraud  by  the  dealer  in  coloring  matters, 
than  the  seller  or  manufacturer  of  these  suspected  things — all  these  causes  tend  to 
spread  more  and  more  the  practice  so  dangerous  to  public  health  and  wealth,  of  arti- 
ficial coloration  of  wines." 

Again  he  says  : 

"Wines  are  colored  generally  only  that  water  maybe  added  with  impunity.  This 
productive  fraud  is  practiced  upon  millions  of  hectolitres,  is  much  to  be  regretted,  and 
is  not  without  danger  to  health  and  the  public  revenue.  In  forcing  the  color  artifi- 
ficially,  less  is  thought,  indeed,  of  giving  the  wine  a  deeper  or  brighter  tint  to  please 
the  eye  of  the  consumer,  than  of  finding  a  disguise,  which  may  permit,  by  increasing 
notably  the  coloring  power  of  the  precious  liquid,  a  proportionate  dilution  with  water, 
provided  the  strength  is  raised  a  little  by  the  subsequent  addition  of  cheap  alcohol." 

Dr.  Gautier  gives  descriptions  and  tables  indicating  how  these  adulterations  may 
be  detected. 

Dr.  Lunier,  inspector  general  of  the  service  for  the  insane  and  of  the  sanitary 
service  of  the  prisons  of  France,  in  his  work  on  the  production  and  consumption  of 
alcoholic  drinks  in  France,  says  there  is  nothing  illicit  in  the  use  of  dark  red  wines 
to  raise  the  color  of  lighter  ones;  but  he  adds: 

"  Unfortunately  there  are  used  also  to  obtain  the  same  results  different  coloring 
matters,  of  which  the  principal  ones  arc  elder-berries  (of  two  kinds — hieblcs  and 
surcati),  myrtle-berries,  j)hytolacca,  Brazil  and  logwood  (bois  de  camp6che),  juice  of 
beet  roots,  hollyhock,  ammoniacal  cochenille,  fuchsinc,  caramel,  etc.  The  chemists 
have  indicated  several  methods  for  detecting  each  of  these  falsificatiods,  all  of  which 
are  culpable  and  some  of  which  arc  dangerous  to  public  health." 

The  official  statistics  of  the  French  production  of  brandies  distilled  from  the  fcr. 
menied  juice  of  the  grape  show  a  remarkable  falling  off;  the  production  of  spirits 
from  the  beet  root  and  importations  of  German  alcohols  which  are  produced  from  po- 
tatoes have  greatly  increased.  The  pure  spirits,  distilled  from  wine,  are  for  this  reason 
seldom  added  to  wines  when  fortification  is  required;  pure  brandy  and  wine  spirit  are 
added  only  to  very  fine  wines.  Coarse  spirits,  or  alcohols,  are  generally  used  for  such 
purpose,  also  in  fabricating  imitations  of  brandies  and  other  liquors. 

Mr.  C.  A.  Wetmore,  the  delegate  of  the  California  State  Vinicultural  Association 
to  the  Paris  exposition  of  1878,  in  his  report,  says: 

[The  extract  quoted  was  taken  from  Mr.  Wetmorc's  report  on  adulterations,  etc., 
which  will  be  found  in  Appendix  No.  IJ. 


148 

This  committee  quote  the  foregoing  statements  to  show  the  apparent  necessity  of 
further  information  on  the  subject  of  the  methods  of  preparing  wines  and  spirits  in 
foreign  ports  for  the  American  market,  and  especially  concerning  the  laws  and  customs 
affecting  the  purity  of  these  articles  in  commerce. 

Much  complaint  has  been  made  against  common  practices  of  selling  wines  and 
spirits  under  false  labels.  This  is  not  always  the  fault  of  the  foreign  shipper,  but  ex- 
aminations of  invoices  show  that  these  official  documents  are  ofcen  used  to  aid  impo- 
sitions. It  would  be  desirable  if  regulations  for  the  consular  offices  could  be  devised,  so 
that  invoices  might  truthfully  describe  the  articles  imported  into  the  United  States,  espe- 
cially in  respect  to  distilled  spirits  intended  for  consumption.  Beet-root  spirits, 
German  potato  alcohols,  and  compounds  made  with  alcohols  should  not  be  permitted 
to  be  represented  as  genuine  brandies,  kirschwasser,  etc.,  if  such  impositions  can  be 
prevented. 

The  information,  called  for  by  the  resolution,  relating  to  internal  systems  of  tax- 
ation affecting  American  exports,  would,  if  obtained,  be  especially  important  for  the 
use  of  the  Senate  when  considering  any  propositions  for  commercial  treaties,  or  other 
questions  relating  to  commerce. 

In  France  all  exports  of  American  wines,  alcohols,  and  many  other  articles  of 
consumption  are  subjected  to  the  internal  system  of  taxation  in  addition  to  the  general 
tariff.  The  official  statement  of  the  r(^^gie  and  octroi  taxes  for  the  city  of  Paris,  to 
which  all  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  fermented  and  spirituous  liquors  are  subjected 
before  they  can  be  offered  for  sale  in  that  ciiy,  shows  the  following  rates  per  hectolitre 
(26.40  American  wine-gallons)  for  the  following  named  articles  : 

Entry.  Octroi.  Total,  francs. 

Wines,  in  wood 11.87  12.  23.87 

Wines,  in  bottle 20.  30.  50. 

Spirits,  in  wood. 186.25  79.80  266.05 

Spints,  in  bottle 248.75  79.80  328.55 

Absmthe 248.75  79.80  328.55 

Cider  (apple,  pear,  etc.) 5.93  4.56  10.49 

Beer 15.  

The  rates  vary  in  difTerent  French  cities.  They  show  a  discrimination  against 
bottled  wines  and  spirits.  An  octroi  tax  is  also  imposed  upon  empty  bottles.  It  is 
important  that  complete  information  on  these  subjects  should  be  obtained,  not  only 
relating  to  France,  but  also  to  other  countries  with  which  we  have  commercial  rela- 
tions, in  order  that  it  may  be  shown  to  what  extent  local  industries  are  protected 
against  American  exports  by  taxes  other  than  those  under  general  tariff  laws. 

The  exports  of  American  alcohols  have  increased  rapidly  in  recent  years.  Dur- 
ing 1877,  9,000  barrels  were  received  in  the  port  of  Marseilles;  this  amount  was 
increased  in  the  first  nine  months  of  1878  to  31,000  barrels;  but  an  examination  of 
the  French  customs  reports  shows  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  trifling  quantity,  these 
alcohols  were  all  re-exported.  The  interests  of  American  commerce  require  that  it 
should  be  known  what  countries  become  the  real  consumers  and  in  what  manner 
they  are  treated,  after  leaving  the  United  States,  before  reaching  their  final  destina- 
tions. 

American  alcohols  come  into  comp-jtition  in  foreign  ports  with  French,  German, 
and  Belgian  products,  and  it  is  therefore  important  to  know  the  nature  and  ex;tent  of 
such  competition. 


149 

The  carefully  prepared  statistics  of  the  French  government  show  in  nearly  all 
cases  of  exports  and  imports  the  relative  quantities  of  each  which  are  the  products  of 
France,  when  exported,  or  which  pay  duty  and  are  entered  for  consumption,  when 
imported.  Information  showing  to  what  extent  the  exports  of  the  United  States  are 
consumed  in  the  countries  to  which  they  are  exported,  or  successively  re-exported, 
together  with  statements  of  the  relative  quantities  of  articles  imported  into  the  United 
States  which  are  the  original  products  of  the  countries  from  which  they  are  imported, 
is  necessary  in  order  to  properly  estimate  our  commercial  relations  with  different 
countries. 

This  committee  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  (Mis.  Doc. 
No.  62). 


ADDRESS 


MR.  CHAS.  A.  WETMORE 


Delivered  before  the  San  Fraticisco  Chamber  of  Commerce,  on  the   1 3/// 
of  June,   1879,  in  opposition  to  the  proposed  Franco- 
American  Reciprocity  Treaty. 


152 


Address  of  Mr.  Chas.  A.  Wetmore. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  made  by  Mr.  Leon  Chotteau, 
in  behalf  of  the  promoters  of  the  proposed  treaty,  the  President, 
Mr.  George  C.  Perkins,  called  upon  Mr.  Chas.  A.  Wetmore,  who 
was  present  by  invitation,  to  address  the  Chamber  upon  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion. 


The  Question  Under  Discussion  Explained. 

Mr,  Wetmore  said: 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Gentlemen  :  Before  entering  upon  the  general  discussion  of  this 
subject,  for  which  I  have  come  prepared,  I  will  state  that,  to  its 
proper  appreciation,  it  is  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  that  we  should 
first  understand  clearly  what  question  is  really  before  us  to-day, 
and  how  it  comes  to  be  brought  here. 

Mr.  Chotteau  is  not  the  only  one  working  in  this  matter. 
Lately  it  has  appeared  to  be  the  policy  of  the  gentlemen  advocat- 
ing this  reciprocity  treaty  to  avoid  discussion  of  the  programme 
agreed  upon  in  Paris  last  August  by  the  originators  of  the  move- 
ment. I  wish  Mr.  Chotteau,  who  is  present  now,  to  correct  me  if 
I  mis-state  anything.  This  programme  was  agreed  upon  by  the 
joint  committee  which  met  in  Paris.  This  joint  committee  con- 
sisted of  an  association  of  French  gentlemen,  some  of  them  manu- 
facturers, others,  their  associates  and  friends,  some  being  members 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Deputies  of  France — a  self-constituted 
committee,  in  no  way  delegated  by  the  people  of  France — together 
with  the  committee  which  was  the  result  of  the  labors  of  Mr.  Chot- 


^53 

teau  during-  his  first  visit  to  this  country,  forming  a  so-called 
American  committee.  The  joint  committee  agreed  upon  a  project, 
or  rather  a  plan  upon  which  a  reciprocity  treaty  should  be  based. 
This  plan  provides  that  France  shall  give  to  the  United  States  the 
benefit  of  her  conventional  tariff,  which  she  orives  to  all  nations 
having  treaties  with  her.  In  other  words,  it  proposes  to  place  us 
on  a  par  with  "the  most  favored  nation."  In  return  for  this, 
these  gentlemen  demanded  of  the  United  States  that  there  should 
be  a  general  reduction  of  our  tariff  on  all  French  products,  as  fol- 
lows :  All  articles  now  paying  less  than  40  per  cent,  duty  to  be 
reduced  30  per  cent.;  no  article  of  any  kind  to  pay  more  than  30 
per  cent.  With  respect  to  spirits,  wines  and  silks,  which  were  the 
principal  articles  under  consideration  by  this  committee — the  most 
active  members  being  those  interested  in  silks,  wines,  or  spirits — 
the  proposed  changes  were  as  follows  :  On  silks,  the  duty  was  to 
be  reduced  to  30  per  cent,  within  three  years;  on  wines  and 
spirits  the  reduction  was  to  be  as  Mr.  Chotteau  has  explained; 
the  tariff  on  still  wines  was  to  be  reduced  one-half  There  was 
to  be  no  discrimination  against  wine  in  bottles ;  this  programme 
was  agreed  upon  by  these  gentlemen.  Thereupon  Mr.  Chotteau 
commenced  a  new  series  of  visits  to  the  cities  of  the  United  States. 
One  of  the  first  thincrs  which  he  did  on  arrivinof  in  this  coun- 
try  on  this  second  occasion  was  to  announce  his  intention  of  visit- 
ing certain  Chambers  of  Commerce,  which  he  could  conveniently 
reach.  To  others,  which  were  by  far  the  greater  number,  he  sent 
a  circular.  In  that  circular,  a  copy  of  which  was  published  in  the 
New  York  Herald,  he  says : 

"  You  are  aware  that  a  French  committee  is  to-day  in  con- 
nection with  an  American  committee,  endeavoring  to  procure  the 
conclusion  of  a  reciprocity  treaty  between  France  and  the  United 
States.  A  project  was  voted  upon  at  Paris,  in  August  last,  antl  it 
is  now  my  charge  to  obtain  on  that  preliminary  work  the  opinion 
of  the  important  body  over  which  you  preside." 

This,  gentlemen,  is  the  (question  before  us  to-day.  Any  ex- 
l)ression  of  opinion  favorable  to  this  movement  coming  from  any 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  or  from  any  committee  of  the  jjeo[)le  in 
any  portion  of  the  United  States,  will  be  construed  as  favoring  the 
project  agreed  upon  in  Paris,  except  so  far  as  definite  exceptions 
are  made.     We  are  asked  whether  we  choose  to  except  any  par- 


154 

ticiilar  thing.  The  products  of  France  embrace  nearly  all  the  im- 
portant industrial  articles  known  to  the  world's  trade.  Therefore 
a  general  reduction  in  our  tariff  favoring  French  products,  even 
excepting  wines,  would  affect  almost  every  dutiable  article.  For  this 
reason,  in  the  address  which  I  have  prepared  on  this  subject,  I  have 
assumed  that  the  question  before  us  is  not  whether  we  should  ex- 
cept wines  from  the  provisions  of  such  a  treaty,  but  whether  it  is 
in  the  interests  of  the  United  States  that  the  treaty,  as  a  whole, 
should  be  entered  into. 

Mr,  Chotteau.  Gentlemen,  it  is  a  mistake  to  charge  that  I 
am  here  to  act  in  the  interest  of  France,  and  not  in  the  mutual 
interests  of  the  two  countries.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  I 
am  here  to  follow  out  any  such  programme  as  is  set  forth  by  the 
gentleman.  When  I  saw  President  Hayes,  and  other  leading  men 
of  your  nation,  at  Washington,  they  asked  me,  "  What  is  your 
programme?"  I  said:  "I  have  no  programme."  I  remember  a 
project  was  voted  upon  in  France,  but  when  that  project  was  under 
discussion  I  said  to  my  friends:  "The  best  way  would  be  to  give  to 
the  United  States  the  clause  of  the  most  favored  nation,  and  to 
take  from  the  United  States  nothing  at  all;  to  leave  to  the  Ameri- 
can people  complete  liberty  to  give  us  such  reduction  of  tariff  as  they 
choose  to  give."  That  idea  was  not  adopted.  But  I  can  tell  you 
a  project  was  not  adopted  by  me,  although  voted  in  France. 
Never  before  a  Board  otTrade  or  before  a  Chamber  of  Commerce 
in  the  United  States  did  I  speak  about  that  project.  I  thought  it 
was  dangerous  to  impose  a  line  of  conduct.  I  left  all  liberty  to  the 
Boards  of  Trade  in  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and 
other  cities.  I  leave  you  in  San  Francisco  the  same  liberty.  I  do 
not  ask  you  to  endorse  that  project.  If  you  and  Mr.  Wetmore 
understood  well  my  situation,  you  would  appreciate  my  feelings, 
and  you  would  see  that  I  am  not  here  to  ask  you  to  follow  out  any 
special  project.  I  am  sure  if  you  cannot  now  see  the  prospect  of 
a  sufficient  increase  in  trade  to  induce  you  to  .support  the  proposed 
treaty,  you  will  be  able  to  see  that  prospect  when  I  shall  put  before 
you  some  new  documents.  Then  you  will  accept  the  idea  of  a 
treaty  between  France  and  your  country.  And  if  you  think  it  is 
necessary  for  you  to  do  something  for  your  special  interests  in  Cal- 
ifornia, I  am  sure  your  government  at  Washington  will  accept  your 
suggestions.     I  think  when  you   have   some  new  documents   you 


155 

will  accept  the  idea  of  a  convention  with  France.  All  your  leadino- 
men  in  Washington  have  accepted  that  idea.  I  saw  your  Senators 
and  your  Representatives,  and  I  am  sure  they  will  accept  it  soon. 
And  I  hope  Mr.  Wetmore  will  press  you  soon  to  follow  the  line  of 
conduct  which  I  desire  you  to  follow. 

Mr.  Wetmore. — I  am  very  glad  to  hear  the  explanation  which 
the  gentleman  has  made.  But  even  admitting  it  all  to  be  true,  so 
far  as  his  wishes  are  concerned,  it  matters  very  little.  I  still  say — 
althoii^h  disclaiming  any  intention  to  disparage  this  gentleman 
— he  is  not  here  as  the  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  France. 

Mr.  Chotteau. — Certainly  not. 

Mr.  Wetmore. — He  represents  an  association  which  has 
agreed  upon  a  project.  They  have  provided  funds  to  defray  his 
expenses.  They  have  the  management  of  the  affair  in  France. 
And  when  we  go  to  France  with  our  demand  for  a  conventional 
tariff,  we  shall  find  that  they  have  already  agreed  upon  what  they 
will  demand,  and  Mr.  Chotteau  cannot  in  any  way  modify  that 
agreement  If,  however,  the  United  States  should  be  induced  to 
go  to  France,  demanding,  in  general  terms,  a  treaty,  without  know- 
ing why,  or  what  we  are  to  pay  for  it,  we  shall  find  that  they,  on 
that  side,  have  already  agreed  upon  what  terms  they  will  make  a 
reciprocity  treaty,  and  those  terms  will  have  been  dictated  by  the 
gentlemen  whom  Mr.  Chotteau  represents.  As  I  said  before,  he 
is  not  alone  at  work  in  this  matter.  There  are  in  sympathy  with 
him  a  number  of  gentlemen.  Mr.  Nathan  Appleton,  of  Boston,  who 
has  recently  become  interested  in  the  Darien  Canal  project  on 
behalf  of  the  French  company,  is  one.  Then  there  is  Mr.  Hodges, 
of  Baltimore,  who  made  an  address  to  the  Baltimore  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  and  announced  the  Paris  project  as  the  basis  for  a  treaty. 
Mr.  Martin  P.  Kennard  made  an  address  to  the  Boston  Board  of 
Trade,  in  which  he  recited  the  terms  of  the  same  project,  and  said : 
"These  propositions  will  in  time  be  submitted  to  the  respective 
governments,  and  it  remains  to  be  seen,  if  these  matured  and  preg- 
nant suggestions  will  receive  attention  and  take  permanent  shape 
in  legislation." 

The  question  before  us  is  whether  the  voice  of  our  peo;:le 
shall  go  to  our  Representatives  in  Washington  and  to  the  treaty 
making  powers,  endorsing,  or  impliedly  endorsing  this  scheme,  which 
means   a  general  reduction   of  our  tariff  to   suit  the  demands  of 


'56 

French  manufacturers.  It  means  nothing-  else.  Whatever  Mr. 
Chotteau  may  say  about  tlic  matter  will  not  prevent  the  association 
he  represents  from  demancling-  what  it  has  announced  as  its  inten- 
tion CO  demand. 

I  will  now,  ,with  your  permission,  proceed  with  the  reading  of 
the  address  which  I  have  prepared  for  this  occasion. 


The  Motives  of  the  Promoters  of  the  Proposed  Ti*eaty. 

Gentlemen: — The  movement  in  favor  of  a  Franco- Ameri- 
can Commercial  Treaty  was  first  inaugurated  in  Paris  by  a  few 
enterprising  manufacturers,  who  saw,  with  alarm,  a  general  decline 
in  the  exports  of  French  manufactured  goods.  Markets,  formerly 
monopolized,  or  controled  by  them,  were  being  in  part,  or  in  whole, 
supplied  by  rival  industries,  which  had  sprung  into  existence  under 
the  shelter  of  revenue  tariffs,  which  operated  in  foreign  countries, 
as  they  had,  and  still  do,  in  France,  to  protect  and  foster  industry 
during  its  experimental  infancy.  These  gentlemen  seeing  also 
that  rival  manufacturing  industries  in  the  United  States  were 
rapidly  displacing  foreign,  and  especially  French  products,  to  such 
a  degree  that  in  a  few  leading  items  we  were  beginning  to  compete 
seriously  in  exportation  to  non-producing  markets,  and  in  nearly 
every  other  item  we  were  rapidly  becoming  able  to  supply  our 
own  wants,  threatening  Europe  for  the  future,  throughout  the 
whole  range  of  industry  with  an  unconquerable  competition  in  all 
markets  of  the  world ;  seeing  also  the  enormous  consuming  ca- 
pacity of  the  United  States — a  market,  where  even  the  factory  hand 
and  farm  laborer,  artizans  and  workmen  of  all  kinds,  being  well 
paid  and  stimulated  by  a  general  common  school  education  to 
increased  wants,  were  good  customers  for  the  commerce  of  the 
world  ;  seeing  this  great  country,  which  had  contributed  immensely 
to  the  wealth  of  Europe,  exporting  lavishly  even  its  precious 
metals,  its  bonds — national,  state  and  municipal — and  a  great  part  of 
the  ownership  and  control  of  the  railroad  and  other  corporations 
in  payment  for  foreign  luxuries  and  such  necessities  as  home  indus- 
try had  not  yet  believed  itself  capable  of  producing ;  seeing  such  a 
noble  field  for  commercial  fora^ine  becominof  self-sustainincr  inde- 
pendent  and  in  its  turn  redeeming  its  exports  of  treasure  bonds, 


157 

and  securities  by  paying  for  them  with  the  products  of  industry, 
and  promising  also  in  its  turn  soon  to  become  the  creditor  of  the 
world  ;  seeing  the  money  centre  of  the  world  leaning  towards  New 
York ;  seeing  these  things,  accentuated  by  the  evidences  of  pro- 
ductive power  displayed  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  these  gen- 
tlemen conceived  the  idea  for  the  first  time  of  offering  us  the 
almost  empty  privileges  of  their  country's  conventional  tariff — to 
give  us  what  England  and  other  countries  now  enjoy  in  France, 
provided  we  would  consent  to  a  radical  reduction  of  our  tariff  for 
the  benefit,  not  only  of  France,  but  of  the  whole  world. 

Not  only  this,  but  we  were  also  to  be  asked  to  bind  ourselves 
by  treaty  for  ten  years  to  a  low  tariff  system,  obtaining  for  our- 
selves small  privileges  in  France  to  which  we  are  now  entitled 
without  concessions,  but  securing  none  in  England,  Belgium,  Ger- 
many, Holland,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Austria,  Spain  and 
Portugal,  which  countries,  while  for  the  most  part,  adopting  protec- 
tive and  prohibitive  tariffs,  and  competing  with  us  in  industries, 
would  share  equally  with  France  the  benefits  of  the  proposed  low 
tariff  in  the  United  States. 

These  gentlemen  could  easily  foresee  that  the  vast  accumula- 
tions of  bankruj^t  stocks  in  all  the  great  producing  nations  of 
Europe — accumulations  caused  chiefly  by  the  competing  industries 
of  the  United  States,  Germany,  Italy  and  India,  would  empty 
themselves  upon  the  United  States  during  the  term  of  the  pro- 
posed treaty,  and  that  their  commercial  disturbances  would  find 
equilibrium  restored  at  the  cost  of  the  American  industries,  which 
would  be  for  an  indefinite  period  checked  and  hereafter  forced  to 
compete  on  European  principles  of  poverty  for  the  workingman 
and  luxury  for  the  emplo)er. 

How  far  these  gentlemen  have  looked  into  the  future  we  can- 
not tell;  perhaps  they  have  seen  only  the  temporary  relief  which 
this  proposed  treaty  would  give  them,  and  perhaps  they  have  not 
thought  that  this  noble  market,  created  by  multitudes  of  well  con- 
ditioned working  people,  would  be  destroyed  by  their  reduction  to 
the  conditions  of  life  necessary  to  manufacturing  competition  with 
the  working  classes  of  France,  Germany,  Belgium  and  England. 
I  shall  soon  show,  by  an  analysis  of  our  import  trade,  to  what 
extent  our  protection  of  the  wages  of  labor  has  benefited  the 
commerce  of  Europe. 


158 

During  the  present  disturbances  of  commercial  activity,  the 
problem  to  which  European  manufacturers  address  themselves  is 
one  of  present  expediency,  viz:  one  class,  aiming  to  restore  the  old 
conditions  of  their  prosperity,  and  another,  recognizing  the  destiny 
of  American  intelligence  and  determination,  to  adjust  themselves 
to  the  future  by  wise  tariff  regulations,  protecting  their  own  work- 
men, while  at  the  same  time  opening  wider  fields  for  legitimate 
commerce  in  all  products,  which  may  easily  flow  over  the  walls 
erected  to  protect  the  workman  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  customary 
privileges. 

The  offer  of  the  association  of  French  manufacturers  is  without 
authority  from  the  French  government;  it  is,  in  fact,  opposed  by  the 
majority  of  the  industrial  forces  of  France,  especially  those  of  the 
Northwest  and  North.  It  is  urged  mainly  by  those  which  are  in 
onflict  with  and  have  suffered  from  the  rapid  growth  of  rival  forces 
in  the  United  States.  While  a  general  sweeping  reduction  is 
demanded  in  our  tariff  upon  nearly  all  articles  of  commerce,  the  draft 
of  the  proposed  treaty  especially  mentions  the  terms  demanded  on 
behalf  of  the  French  producers  of  silks,  wines  and  spirits — these 
being  the  really  active  men  represented  by  Mr.  Leon  Chotteau, 
and  in  whose  especial  interest  he  is  laboring. 

The  gentlemen  are,  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Chotteau, 
organizing  a  powerful  party  in  the  United  States  in  favor  of  the 
negotiation  of  a  treaty  with  F>ance,  which  in  substance  proposes: 

I  St.  That  the  United  States  shall  be  bound  for  a  term  of 
years  to  permit  an  enormous  increase  of  importations  from 
all  the  world. 

2d.  That,  in  consideration  of  this  liberality,  which  will  relieve 
European  markets  from  the  pressure  under  which  France  now  suf- 
fers, and  which  will  check  the  progress  of  our  industries,  F>ance 
shall  be  bound  to  give  us  the  same  privileges  that  she  grants  to 
"  the  most  favored  nation." 

The  merits  of  such  a  proposition,  if  we  could  be  induced  to 
surrender  liberiy  of  action  for  ten  years  for  the  benefit  of  all 
Europe,  and  be  reciprocated  with  only  by  France,  must  be  looked 
for  in  balancing  our  increased  gain  in  our  exports  to  France,  with 
the  increased  gain  of  not  only  France,  but  all  the  other  countries, 
in  their  exports  to  us,  estimating  also  the  losses  which  our  people 
would  sutler  from  the  destruction  of  industries  now  growing 
rapidly. 


159 

Mr.  Chotteau's  Addresses. 

I  have  read  all  of  the  addresses  made  by  Mr.  Chotteau  before 
American  Chambers  of  Commerce,  but  I  can  find  in  none  of  them 
even  a  plausible  reason  for  consenting  to  this  radical  change.  He 
simply  shows  us  that  the  French  general  tariff,  applicable  to  all 
countries  which  have  no  special  treaties  with  France,  applies  to  the 
United  States,  and  that  under  its  provisions  nearly  every  product 
of  our  manufacturing  industries  is  absolutely  prohibited;  that  nearly 
every  natural  product,  excepting  such  as  cotton,  which  does  not 
come  into  competition  with  French  agriculture,  is  subjected  to  pro- 
tective taxation.  He  admits  that  France  has,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  advantao^es  of  "the  most  favored  nation"  under  the  tariff  of 
the  United  States,  by  reason  of  which  she  has  been  able  and  still 
is  able  to  export  to  us  vastly  more  of  her  manufactured  wares  than 
we  can  of  ours  to  France  ;  but  then  when  he  assumes  that  an  ex- 
traordinarily fraternal  spirit  towards  our  people  actuates  his  coun- 
trymen, we  might  almost  expect  him  to  offer,  in  their  name,  the 
same  privileges  for  an  American  lock  that  we  grant  to  a  French 
clock,  in  consideration  that  we  shall  not  retaliate  for  the  past  by  ab- 
solutely excluding  French  manufactures  from  our  markets,  nor 
impose  an  export  tax  upon  crude  petroleum,  which  we  might 
do  with  considerable  advantage. 

He  says  that  we  are  offered  the  favorable  terms  of  the  French 
conventional  tariff,  and  asks  us  whether  we  are  willing  to  grant  con- 
cessions in  return  for  the  favor.  This  conventional  tariff  is  the 
one  applicable  only  to  countries  bound  to  France  by  treaties  of 
commerce.  In  what  respect  it  might  be  advantageous  to  the  United 
States  will  depend  greatly  upon  the  possible  modifications  in  it 
whicli  are  demanded  by  certain  French  industries,  particularly  the 
cotton,  to  protect  them  against  British  trade.  It  will  depend  also 
very  much  upon  the  success  or  failure  of  Great  Britain  in  securing 
such  reduct'ons  of  tariff  and  changes  of  regulations  as  her  experi- 
ence has  taught  to  be  necessary  before  there  can  be  any  reciprocal 
trade.  This  subject  was  investigated  by  the  British  government 
and  reported  upon  to  the  House  of  Commons  last  year.  The 
reports  show  that  the  advantages  of  the  French  conventional  tariit 
are  illusory  from  the  free  trade  point  of  view,  and  England's  experi- 


i6o 

cn:e,  when  carefully  analyzed,  will  show  how  much  increased  trade 
the  United  States  might  expect. 

Mr.  Chottcau,  however,  in  liis  addresses  does  not  undertake 
to  explain  by  any  details  in  what  particulars  France  offers  us  a 
market  for  any  greatly  increased  quantity  of  our  exports.  He  sat- 
isfies himself,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  also  a  great  many  of  our 
people,  including  members  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  from  New 
Orleans  to  Boston,  by  arguments  such  as  the  following  : 

In  his  address  to  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  after 
showing  some  facts  concerning  French  prohibitions  and  high  tariffs^ 
and  comparing  the  respective  increases  in  the  imports  of  France 
from  England,  Belgium,  Germany,  Italy  and  the  United  States  since 
1856,  he  says  : 

"  Your  government  can  accomplish  to-day  the  act  which  your 
material  interests  demanded  you  to  conclude  ten  or  fifteen  years 
sooner.  If  so  decided,  the  Franco-American  treaty  of  Commerce 
will  give  you  in  France,  from  1877  to  1886,  the  annual  average  of 
the  exports  of  England  from  1867  to  1876,  that  is  to  say,  already 
600,000,000  francs  ($120,000,000). 

"Your  average  from  1867  to  1876  was  197,000,000  francs 
($39,400,000). 

"  A  conventional  tariff  with  France  would  then  bring  to  your 
country  business  activity,  amounting  annually  to  400,000,000  francs 
($80,000,000).  "■''  ■■•'  '"''  '•'  '■'■ 

"  What  do  you  intend  to  give  us  in  exchange  ?" 

In  his  address  to  the  Merchants'  Exchange  of  St.  Louis,  he 
adopts  another  equally  vague  way  of  estimating  results,  this  time 
claiming  that  our  exports  to  Prance  would  equal  our  present 
exports  to  Great  Britain,  instead  of,  as  before  the  New  York  Cham- 
ber, adhering  to  his  estimate  equaling  the  exports  of  Great  Britain 
to  France.     He  says  ; 

"  EXPORTS    EROM    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

"  To  Great   Britain. ....  $387,430,730,  or  54.57  per  cent. 
"  To   France 55,319,138,  or     7.79    ''      " 

"  Then,  France,  among  your  foreign  markets,  occupies  the 
second  rank,  and  you  would  have  to  make  up,  by  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce, the  difference  between  7.79  and  54.57  per  cent  ;  that  is  to 
say,  to  increase  the  amount  of  your  exports  into  France  at  least 
$332,111,592.  '^  *  *  *  ='= 


i6i 

"She  (France)  will  he  actuated  by  the  lecj-itimate  desire  of 
gaining  in  her  exchanges  with  you  $18,323,279"  (to  equal  the 
imports  from  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico),  "  or  $63,91 1,807  annually"  (to 
equal  imports  from  England). 

"  You  should  not  fear  such  a  contingency,  since  you  reserve 
for  yourselves  the  care  of  getting  annually  with  France  $332,1  1 1,- 
592. 

"  So,  the  Franco- American  treaty  of  commerce  gives  you 
with  France  an  advantage  of  $269,199,785." 

Mr.  Chotteau  addressed  the  New  York  Chamber  on  the  6th 
of  March  last  ;  on  the  14th  of  the  next  month  he  made  the  fore- 
going extraordinary  statement  to  the  St.  Louis  Exchange.  In  five 
weeks  his  enthusiasm  or  recklessness  induced  him  to  elevate  the 
advantages  to  the  United  States  from  $80,000,000  annually,  to 
$269,000,000,  whereupon  the  St.  Louis  Exchange,  dazzled  by  this 
new  count  of  Monte  Christo,  adopted  unanimously  a  series  of 
resolutions  approving  the  proposed  treaty,  the  resolutions  being  in- 
troduced by  the  words 

"Whereas,  we,  the  members  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  of 
St.  Louis,  having  listened  with  deep  interest  to  the  address  of  Mr. 
Leon  Chotteau,  the  able  delegate  of  the  F^rench  Committee,"  etc. 

I  hope  I  may  be  pardoned  for  making  these  criticisms,  which 
only  tend  to  show  that  Mr.  Chotteau,  in  his  agitation  of  this  subject, 
twists  facts  and  figures  together  in  the  most  reckless  manner,  en- 
couraged by  his  successes  to  think  that  our  people  are  willing  to 
believe  that  he  is  laboring  at  the  expense  of  the  French  manufac- 
turers to  secure  a  balance  of  trade  for  the  United  States  against 
France  of  $269,000,000. 

He  adopts  the  same  style  of  reasoning  to  capture  the  J^aUi- 
more  Board  of  Trade.  He  shows  that  the  exports  of  Baltimore 
were,  for  the  fiscal  year  1877-78  (the  same  year  referred  to  in  the 
St.  Louis  address),  viz. : 

"To  England $27,826,567 

"To  Germany 9,979,278 

" To  France 8,425,987" 

Then  he  attempts  to  analyze  the  items  of  exportation,  the  re- 
sult of  his  effort  showing  that  the  differences  between  the  conven- 
tional and  the  general  tariff  practically  have  little  effect  upon  the 


l62 

grain,  flour,  salt  meats,  butter,  cheese,  petroleum,  tobacco  and  barks 
exported  directly  to  France,  the  discrimination  being  generally  only 
against  goods  reaching  France  via  some  other  country.  Balti- 
more exported  sixty-six  thousand  hogsheads  of  tobacco  to  Germany, 
and  only  fifteen  thousand  to  France.  Germany  imposes  a  duty, 
France  none,  because  the  import  of  tobacco  on  private  account  is 
prohibited.  The  government  monopolizes  the  trade  ;  the  conven- 
tional offers  no  advantages  over  the  general  tariff.  Yet,  after  show- 
ing these  things,  Mr.  Chotteau  says  : 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  you  how  you 
can  raise  your  annual  exports  to  France  from  $8,425,987  to  $27,- 
826,567,  what  they  were  last  year  to  England." 

He  appears  to  assume  two  things,  which  should  be  matters 
of  serious  discussion,  viz.  :  That  France  would  be,  tariff  obstruc- 
tions being  removed,  as  good  a  market  for  our  produce  as 
Enorland  is,  and  that  the  conventional  tariff  would  ofive  us  the  same 
advantao-es  with  France  that  we  now  have  with  Eno-land.  Both 
of  these  assumptions  I  shall  show  to  be  far  from  the  truth  ;  indeed 
I  shall  show  that  the  proposed  treaty  would  add  comparatively 
little  to  our  present  advantages,  while  it  would  take  from  us  our 
present  superiority  in  commercial  soundness. 

By  the  same  processess  of  reasoning  (?)  he  shows  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Chamber  of  Commerce  that  our  exports  of  provisions  may 
be  increased  from  $8,000,000,  now  exported  to  France,  to  $80,000,- 
000,  the  amount  exported  to  England. 

In  Boston  he  showed  how  we  could  export  cotton  fabrics,  and 
in  New  Orleans,  how  more  raw  cotton  might  go  to  France  not- 
withstanding the  latter  is  now  free  of  duty.  The  importation  of 
the  latter  is  paralyzed,  he  says,  by  our  tariff  relations  in  other  mat- 
ters ;  but  the  treaty  will  cure  the  trouble,  viz.  :  The  treaty  will 
cause  France  to  import  manufactured  cotton  from  Boston,  which 
result  will  so  stimulate  French  cotton  industry  that  the  importation 
of  raw  cotton  will  also  increase ! 

In  New  Orleans  he  especially  discussed  the  sugar  trade,  and 
showed  that  France  is  a  large  exporter  of  refined  sugar  ;  that  the 
United  States  was  a  large  importer  of  brown  sugars  ;  that  the 
United  States  might,  if  encouraged,  stimulate  the  sugar  industry 
by  exporting  ;  that  the  duties  should  be  lowered  to  admit  French 
sugar,  and  other  similar  inconsistent  things.     He  concludes,  com- 


1 63 

plaining  that  the  Louisiana  sugar  producers  object  to  a  reduction 
of  the  tariff,  and  says  : 

"  If  California  excepts  the  wines  because  she  has  some  vine- 
yards, and  if  Louisiana  excepts  the  sugars  because  she  has  some 
cane  fields,  how  can  we  reconcile  the  interes;;s  we  intend  to  brino- 
together?" 

I  will  continue  this  criticism  only  by  quoting  his  latest  estimate 
of  the  advantages  of  this  treaty  to  us,  which  -I  find  in  his  address 
to  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago,  delivered  on  the  27th  of  May. 
He  showed  this  time  that  our  exports  to  Great  Britain  exceeded 
those  to  France  by  $174,000,000,  and  said  : 

"  You  have  to  gain  with  France  $174,000,000.     "''  ■'"'■■  '=" 

England  has  exported  to  this  coun  ry  goods  worth  $107,290,677  ; 
France  has  sent  only  $43,378,870.  If,  following  England's  exam- 
ple, she  increases  her  exports  to  $107,000,000,  it  will  be  $64,000,- 
000  more  than  at  present.  But  you  will  have  increased  your  ex- 
ports to  her  $174,000,003.  You  will  therefore  have  no  cause  for 
complaint,  as  you  will  sill  have  an  advantage  over  France  of 
$110,000,000.  Such  are  the  results  which  we  wish  you  to  at- 
tain." 

Gentlemen,  here  is  a  third  estimate  of  our  advantages  under 
the  treaty.  In  New  York,  on  the  6th  of  March,  he  fixed  it  at 
$80,000,000  ;  in  St.  Louis,  on  the  14th  of  April,  $269,000,000  ;  in 
Chicago,  on  the  27th  of  May,  $1  10,000,000.  While  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  show  that,  from  the  statistical  point  of  view,  Mr.  Chou- 
teau's explanations  of  the  probable  effects  of  the  proposed 
treaty  are  absolutely  worthless,  I  shall  not  pretend  to  say  that  he 
does  not  mean  what  he  says  when  he  exclaims  :  "Such  arc  the  re- 
sults which  we  wish  you  to  attain" — viz.:  An  advantage  in  our 
trade  with  France  of  $1 10,000,000.  \Vc  must  not  question  his 
philanthropy  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  nor  the  self-sacrificing 
missionary  spirit  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  so  nobly  planned  this 
scheme  to  enrich  America  at  the  expense  of  France. 


Diplomacy,  or  Recklessness. 

There  is  another  feature  of  this  movement  which  is  worth  a 
passing  notice.  The  number  of  gentlemen  actively  engaged  in 
promoting  it  is  comparatively  small.    I  was  in  Paris  last  Summer  and 


164 

had  frequent  occasion  to  test  the  opinions  of  leading  Americans  who 
were  there  unconnected  with  this  matter.       Much  was  being  made 
of  the  fact  that  so  many  of  our  influential  representatives  attended 
the  banquet  given  by  Mr.  Menier,  the  great  chocolate  manufacturer 
and  President  of  the. French  association  represented  by  Mr.  Chot- 
teau.     By  personal  inquiry  I  ascertained  that  most  of  these  guests 
were  either  uncommitted  on  this  question  or  decidedly  opposed  to 
the   scheme.     Nearly  every  American  available  for  the   purpose, 
from  the  Minister   Plenipotentiary  to  clerks   of  our  Treasury  and 
Statistical  Bureaus  at  Washington,  were  complimented  by  appoint- 
ments to  serve    on  the  American  Committee   in   the  interest  of 
France.     Mr.  Noyes,  our  Minister  to  France,  found  a  polite  excuse 
for  not  serving  as  an  officer  of  the  joint  committee  by  saying  that 
his  official  duties  might  require  him  in  future  to  act  for  the  United 
States  in  this  matter,  etc.     Many  who  were  at   first  captured  by 
large  promises  of  great  fortune  to   the   United   States  afterwards 
investigated  the  questions  involved  and  became  decidedly  opposed 
to  the  scheme.     Nevertheless  their  names  are  freely  used  to  give 
apparent  strength  to  the  organization. 

A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cirque  des  Champs- Elysees  on  the 
I  St  of  last  December,  the  object  of  which  was  to  arouse  enthusiasm 
on  the  subject  and  to  obtain  funds.  The  American  Register,  of 
Paris,  pronounced  it  a  conspicuous  fizzle.  I  was  in  London  at  the 
time  and  read  press  despatches  to  the  same  effect,  in  which  it  was 
said  that  United  States  Minister  Noyes  and  Consul-General 
P'airchild  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence. 

I  have  received  a  pamphlet  containing,  in  English,  a  report  ot 
the  proceedings,  published  for  the  use  of  the  committee,  in  this  I 
find  it  stated  that  the  American  colony  was  represented  by  General 
Noyes,  General  P'airchild,  etc.  This  statement  reads  well  and 
helps  the  cause  along. 

Ex- Senator  Fenton  was  present,  but,  when  called  upon  to 
speak,  candidly  admitted  that  he  knew  so  little  of  the  details  of 
the  proposed  scheme  that  he  could  give  no  opinion  upon  it. 

I  look  Jn  vain  through  the  report  for  one  single  statement, 
made  by  the  French  speakers,  of  sufficient  practical  commercial 
importance  to  be  worthy  of  a  moment's  thought.  The  whole  talk 
was  about  the  American  Revolution,  Lafayette,  fraternity,  and  the 
great  love  of  Frenchmen  for  Americans.     The  pamphlet  contains, 


i65 

also,  an  address  from  the  Marseilles  Chamber  of  Commerce,  com- 
plaining that  the  draft  of  the  proposed  treaty  does  not  declare 
sufficient  general  reductions  to  be  made  in  our  tariff  to  satisfy 
France. 

I  have  also  what  purports  to  be  a  reply  of  an  American  Com- 
mittee to  the  original  address  of  the  so-called  French  Committee. 
It  purports  to  be  signed  by  the  members  of  the  Central  Committee 
of  Washington.  I  read  the  names  of  prominent  Senators  and  Rep- 
resentatives in  Congress  at  that  time.  How  many  of  them  author- 
ized the  use  of  their  names  I  cannot  say;  but  one  of  them,  at  least, 
has  informed  me  that  his  name  was  used  without  his  consent,  not- 
withstanding he  was  decidedly  opposed  to  the  movement — I  refer 
to  ex- Senator  Sareent. 


Opposition  to  the  Conventional  Tariff  System  in  France. 

Not  only  are  these  things  true  ot  the  weakness  and  reckless- 
ness of  the  promoters  of  the  scheme,  but  also  Mr.  Chotteau  makes 
no  attempt  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  great  opposition  which  has 
developed  in  France  against  commercial  treaties  and  of  the 
growing  favor  for  a  tariff  system  similar  to  our  own,  just  to  the 
French  people  and  impartial  to  all  the  world.  The  French  people 
are  beginning  to  learn  that  they  will  have  taken  their  first  step  to- 
wards honest  and  practical  free  trade  when  they  adopt  a  general 
tariff  sufficiently  protective  to  enable  their  people  to  labor  profit- 
ably, prohibiting  nothing  and  granting  no  special  privileges  to  any 
particular  country. 

The  French  Senate Comniission,  appointed  in  the  VrW  of  1877 
to  inquire  into  the  sufferings  of  industry  and  commerce  and  to  re- 
port the  remedy  needed,  made  an  elaborate  report  last  S[)ring,  in 
which  it  is  shown  that  the  most  influential  industrial  Committees 
and  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  France  demand  further  protection 
during  the  present  crisis,  which  they  demonstrate  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  development  of  rival  industries,  especially  in  the 
United  States,  and  also  in  Germany,  Ital^and  P)ritish  India.  They 
show  that  the  competition  of  our  industries  has  shut  Fngland  from 
our  market,  and  is  beginning  also  to  have  the  same  effect  upon 
France ;  that  the  over-production  of  England — bankrupt  stocks  of 
cotton*  goods,  etc.,  the  excess  of  glass  wares  of  Belgium,  etc., — 


i66 

avail  themselves  of  the  treaties  with  France,  and  are  sold  in  Paris 

at  less  than  cost. 

They  call  attention  to  the  radical  change  which  is  taking 
place  in  the  tariff  policies  of  Europe  towards  protection  and 
the  rapid  change  in  British  sentiment  on  free  trade,  and  in 
view  of  these  facts  they  recommend  that  no  new  treaties  be 
entered  into  until  after  equilibrium  is  restored.  Meanwhile  they 
also  recommend  the  abrogation  of  existing  treaties,  and  the  adop- 
tion of  a  general  tariff,  applicable  to  all  countries,  which  shall  suffi- 
ciently protect  all  industries  requiring  protection.  They  say  to  the 
Senate : 

"Let  us  beware  of  abstract  theories  and  fanciful  systems.  We 
should  render  unto  treaties  of  commerce  what  belongs  to  them; 
modify  them  in  such  respects  as  they  are  prejudicial  to  us;  conform 
them  to  circumstances;  and  especially  rest  upon  a  grand  reserve  in 
presence  of  the  dispositions  manifested  by  other  countries  of  Eu- 
rope and  of  the  consequences  which  may  follow  the  industrial  revo- 
lution which  is  taking  place  in  the  United  States.  Without  con- 
demning, in  any  way,  the  principle  of  international  treaties,  would 
the  present  moment  be  opportune  to  contract  new  ones?  Is  it  not 
wise  to  wait  until  the  other  nations  have  regulated  their  tariffs?" 

I  shall,  in  the  words  of  the  French  Commission,  ask,  also,  whether 
the  present  movement  is  opportune  to  make  any  radical  change  in 
the  general  tariff  of  the  United  States  ?  It  is  true,  as  was  shown 
last  Spring  to  the  French  Senate,  that  the  industrial  and  commer- 
cial crisis  in  Europe,  especially  affecting  England,  France  and  Ger- 
many, has  assumed  the  character  of  an  industrial  revolution,  caused 
by  the  appearance  of  the  United  States  upon  the  great  field  of 
industrial  competition.  This  being  true,  and  it  being  equally  so 
that  we  do  not  intend  to  abandon  the  industries  which  have  made 
our  people  self-supporting  and  self-sufficient,  and  are  now  paying 
rapidly  our  national  debts,  as  well  as  drawing  towards  us  the  finan- 
cial centre  of  the  world,  we  must  certainly  conclude,  whatever 
our  notions  may  be  concerning  tariff  regulations  in  the  future,  that 
the  present  moment  is  inopportune  to  make  a  radical  change. 
Our  position  now  is  good  ;  it  will  be  assured  as  soon  as  equilibrium 
is  restored  in  Europe,  and  then  we  may  begin  to  talk  safely  of 
reciprocal  commerce  when  reciprocity   becomes  possible  and  safe. 


167 

Our  past  policy  has  surpassed,  in  its  results,  the  sanguine  hopes 
of  its  originators  ;  we  have  nothing  to  complain  of  at  present  ;  we 
cannot  abandon  our  policy  now  in  the  heat  of  a  battle  without  pros- 
trating ourselves  under  the  recoil  of  the  force,  which  we  now 
exert.  A  few  years  niorc  and  resistance  will  have  ceased.  We 
have  the  fortunes  and  pros^jcrity  of  our  own  people  to  protect ; 
let  France  and  England  protect  their  own,  and  we  sliall  soon  be  on 
an  equality  for  treaty  negotiations  if  we  should  need  any  at  all. 

Mr.  Chotteau,  however,  has  utterly  failed  to  explain  the  nature 
of  this  opposition  to  his  scheme,  which  I  have  noted  in  France. 
We  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  such  opposition  ;  it  is  a  move- 
ment in  favor  of  our  system  and  has  in  view  the  well  being  of  the 
French  industrial  classes.  We  should  prefer  to  see  these  classes 
prosperous  and  comfortably  situated  in  both  countries  than  to  see 
them  precipitated  into  a  vile  competition  of  labor  which  must 
inevitably  reduce  them  practically  to  the  condition  of  slaves  of  con- 
tending armies  of  manufacturers.  The  first  object  of  great  civi- 
lized countries  should  not  be  successful  competition  in  foreign  trade 
based  upon  the  enforced  poverty  of  workingmen  ;  the  first  object 
should  be  to  attain  healthful  and  profitable  domestic  exchanges. 
There  is  little  that  we  export  that  we  could  not  consume  ourselves  if 
our  working  people  were  all  consumers  and  their  wares  taken  in 
exchange  for  what  they  consume. 


Statistics   of  the    Commerce   of  the    United   States. 

A  proper  understanding  of  the  objects  aimed  at  by  the 
French  manufacturers  in  urging  upon  our  people  a  general  reduc- 
tion of  the  tariff  cannot  be  had  without  first  observing  the  radical 
changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States.  Under  this  head  I  shall  refer  to  the  report  of  the  Chief 
of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  on  Foreign  Commerce  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,   i?->y?>. 

Comparing  the  net  imports  of  foreign  merchandise  with  ex- 
ports of  domestic  merchandise,  specie  values,  we  find  that  in  i860 
imports  were  (round  numbers)  $336,000,000;  exports,  $316,000,- 
000;  excess  of  imports,  $20,000,000. 

During  the  civil  war  both  exports  and  imports  diminished. 
In    1866   the  normal  progress   of  trade   was    again    felt,   imports 


i68 

amounting   to   $423,000,000;    exports,    $337,000,000;    excess    of 
imports,  $85,000,000. 

In  1870,  imports  were  $419,000,000;  exports,  $376,000,000; 
excess  of  imports,  $43,000,000. 

In  I S73,  imports,  $624,000,000;  exports,  $505,000,000;  ex- 
cess of  imports,  $119,000,000. 

After  1873  the  balance  of  trade  commenced  to  turn  in  our 
favor,  imports  steadily  decreasing,  exports  increasing.  We  had 
$18,000,000  in  our  fav^or  in  1874  ;  $19,000,000  against  us  in  1875, 
and  in  1876,  1877  and  1878,  79,  151  and  257  million  dollars  suc- 
cessively in  our  favor. 

Importations  increased  comparatively  steadily  from  $381,000,- 
000  in  1867  to  $624,000,000  in  1873,  and  then  fell  off  steadily  to 
$422,000,000  in  1878. 

Exportations  have  increased  comparatively  steadily  from 
$279,000,000  in  1867  to  $680,000,000  in  1878. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-eight  compared  with  1867 
shows  an  increase  of  imports  of  $4,000,000,  and  an  increase  of 
exports  of  $401,000,000. 

In  this  respect  our  commerce  kept  proportionate  pace  with 
that  of  France  and  England  since  1 860,  which  Mr.  Chotteau  attri- 
butes solely  to  the  influence  of  treaties  of  commerce ;  but  we  had 
no  treaties.  The  fact  is  only  that  the  United  States,  like  all  other 
countries,  owed  her  growth  of  trade  to  the  general  expansion  of 
the  world's  commerce. 

During  the  years  i860  to  1878,  inclusive,  the  balances  against 
us  on  account  of  merchandise,  have  amounted  to  $1,196,000,000 
the  balances,  in  our  favor,  $508,000,000.  We  have  yet  to  gain  a 
great  deal  before  we  extinguish  our  debts  on  account  of  past  bal- 
ances. During  the  same  period  we  exported  coin  and  bullion  in 
excess  of  imports  to  the  amount  of  $914,000,000.  In  1875,  excess 
of  exports  of  coin  and  bullion  was  $71,000,000;  in  1878,  only 
$3,900,000. 

This  statement  shows  that  the  products  of  our  mines  are  now 
swelling  our  stocks  of  precious  metals  instead  of  increasing  our 
exports,  and  that  our  excess  of  exports  of  merchandise  is  rapidly 
paying  our  debts  to  foreign  bondholders,  the  capital  of  our  people 
being  increased  by  the  amount  of  bonds  and  other  securities 
imported  to  balance  accounts. 


i6g 

With  this  enormously  rapid  increase  of  capital  in  interest  bear- 
ins:  and  neofotiable  bonds  and  mortg-asfes,  coin  and  bullion,  our 
industries  and  public  enterprises  have  leaped  forward  with  unprece- 
dented power.  This  explains  the  frequent  reports  of  increased 
activity  in  manufacturing  enterprises,  mining  and  railroad  building. 
Our  people  can  now  borrow  sufficient  capital  to  build  railroads  and 
start  new  factories  without  crossing  the  Atlantic,  and  the  interest 
money  paid  will  enlarge  the  consuming  power  of  our  people. 

Heretofore  manufacturing  enterprises  have  been  struggling 
against  the  want  of  large  capital  at  low  rates  of  interest,  for  long 
terms  of  borrowing.  Now  this  want  is  being  supplied  and  our 
industries  are  growing  to  be  irresistible.  If  we  maintain  our  pres- 
ent status  we  shall,  in  another  decade,  be  able  to  compete  in  all 
the  costliest  enterprises;  shall  again,  without  any  forcing  process, 
acquire  the  ownership  of  fleets  upon  the  ocean,  and  shall  hold,  as 
England,  Germany  and  France  now  do,  bonds  and  the  securities  of 
other  peoples,  thereby  swelling  the  power  of  our  capital,  reducing 
interest  and  encouraging  industry. 

It  is  not  strange  that  such  a  spectacle  should  produce  excite- 
ment in  Europe  and  cause  such  missionaries  as  Mr.  Chotteau  to  be 
sent  to  us  imploring  us  to  reduce  our  tariffs  before  our  advanced 
position  becomes  assured. 

Let  us  examine  further  and  see  why  it  is  that  our  tariff  is  the 
objective  point  of  attack. 

Among  the  articles  of  export  which  have  increased  since  1 868 
are  the  following  : 


Agricultural  implements |$    673,381 

Clocks  and  watches 

Copper,  brass  and  manufactures  of 

Manufactures  of  cotton 

Fancy  and  toilet  articles. . 

Hemp,  and  manufactures  of 

Iron,  steel,  and  manufactures  of 

Leather,  and  manufactures  of 

Ordnance  and  ordnance  stores 


1868. 

1878. 

S  673,381 

$  2,575,198 

536,700 

1,076,797 

939.250 

3.078.372 

4,87'.o54 

11,438,660 

455,240 

1,065,914 

594,810 

1,220,962 

8,258,700 

15,882,508 

1,414.372 

8,080,030 

794,791 

4.833.070 

Increase 
over  1868. 

$1,901,817 

540,097 

2,139,122 

6,567,606 

620,674 

626,152 

7,623,808 

6,665,658 

4,038.279 


The  foregoing  represents,  to  some  extent,  the  competition  with 
which  our  manufacturing  industries  begin  to  affect  European  indus- 
tries in  foreign  markets.  The  table  does  not  yet  show  a  vast  ex- 
portation of  manufactures,  but  it  proves  that  we  are  in  some  in 


stances  already  established  in  business,  and  that  the    protective 
tariff  does  not  oppress  the  people  with  high  prices. 

There  was  an  increase  in  1878  over  1868  of  ;^i  12,000,000  in 
breadstuffs,  Si, 800,000  in  hops,  52.000,000  in  oil  cake,  $24,000,000 
in  petroleum,  $93,000,000  in  provisions,  55,000,000  in  animals, 
$4,500,000  in  sugar  and  molasses. 

These  are  the  principal  items,  covering  67  per  cent,  of  the 
total  increase. 

The  following  table  shows  the  progress  of  our  exports  of 
manufactured  articles  : 

1850 $15,617,730  I   1870 $76,916,659 

i860 42,408,934  I  1878 135,171,921 

And  this  progress  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  treaties  of  com- 
merce but  to  our  wise  tariff  system. 

The  meaning  of  the  foregoing  tables  is  best  understood  by  con- 
sidering them  in  connection  with  tables  showing  decreases  in  im- 
portations. Among  the  items  showing  decrease  in  importations 
are  the  following  : 

Decrease  in  1878 
Over  1S73. 

Manufactures  of  Iron  and  Steel $50,250,000 

Manufactures  of  Cotton .    1 6, 1 20,287 

Manufactures  of  Flax - 6,014,791 

Manufactures  of  Silk 10,052,063 

Manufactures  of  Wool 26,000,000 

Manufactures  of  Tin 5,090,000 

Manufactures  of  Glass 4,079,895 

Manufactures  of  Leather 3>909»755 

Manufactures  of  Wood 7,481,365 

Chemicals,  Drugs,  etc 5»955>588 

Watches,  and  materials 2,462,243 

Copper,  Brass  and  manufactures  of 3,264,924 

Earthern,  Stone  and  China  Ware 1)964, 1 39 

Wine,  Spirits  and  Cordials 3,741,000 

Sugar  and  Molasses 12,81 1,775 

Manufactures  of  Tobacco , 1,071,913 

Beer,  Ale,  Porter 1,235,056 

India  Rubber,  manufactures,  etc 657,623 

Musical  Instruments. 464,161 

Paints  and  Painters'  Colors ".  668,337 

Paintings,  Chromos,  Photos,  etc 62 1, 147 

Raw  Wool 1 2,070,92 3 


171 

The  foregoing  table  is  an  approximate  measure  of  the  growth 
of  industries  in  the  United  States  which  now  supply  our  own  wants 
and  in  some  instances  furnish  a  surplus  for  exportation.  The  im- 
ports of  woven  goods,  of  cotton,  flax,  silk,  wool  and  jute  have 
fallen  in  five  years  from  $141,000,000  in  1873  to  $81,000,000  in 
1878  ;  the  manufactures  of  iron  and  steel  from  $59,000,000  to 
^9,000,000  in  the  same  period. 

It  is  this  rapid  decrease  in  imports  of  all  the  principal  articles 
of  British  and  French  industry,  together  with  the  commencement 
of  increase  of  exports  in  some  of  the  items,  that,  since  1873,  has 
alarmed  Europe.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  French  manufacturers 
want  a  general  reduction  in  our  tariff. 

If  France  is  to  be  benefited  by  a  treaty,  it  is  by  causing  us  to 
increase  our  imports  of  the  above  named  articles,  to  cease  export- 
ing the  same  and  to  reduce  our  production ;  if,  however,  it  is  the 
United  States  that  is  to  benefit  by  a  treaty,  as  Mr.  Chotteau  says, 
it  must  be  by  exporting  these  goods  to  France,  decreasing  our  im- 
ports from  her,  and  reducing  still  further  her  industrial  production. 
We  need  not  hesitate  in  making  up  our  minds  as  to  which  result 
French  manufacturers,  represented  by  Mr.  Chotteau,  aim  at.  They 
are  very  much  in  earnest,  because  if  they  do  not  win  in  this  move- 
ment now,  it  will  be  too  late  to  attempt  it  ten  years  hence.  In  this 
struggle  we  should  not  expect  foreign  manufacturers  to  be  idle ; 
but  we  must  not  be  caught  napping.  Our  people  should  at  least 
know  as  much  of  the  importance  of  their  own  industries  as  foreign- 
ers do.  All  that  we  need  now  is  a  season  of  uninterrupted  labor, 
and  then  our  people  will  become  emancipated  from  foreign  labels 
and  marks.  We  can  then  order  our  tariff  regulations  to  suit  the 
conditions  and  wants  of  our  own  artisans,  whose  habits  of  life  will 
always,  I  hope,  demand  more  wages  than  their  European  compet- 
itors. I  hope  the  day  may  never  come  when  sharp  competition 
with  foreign  countries  to  control  foreign  trade,  shall  drive  our 
workmen  into  the  comfortless  lives,  poorly  paid  and  ill  nourished, 
that  are  the  lot  of  ihe  English  and  French. 

If  we  must  compete,  let  it  be  by  virtue  of  superior  machinery 
and  appliances,  rather  than  by  competition  in  labor  prices,  long 
hours  for  work,  and  the  utilization  of  women  and  children.  When  we 
control  our  home  markets,  we  need  not  worry  about  foreign  trade. 


172 

How  well  this  situation  is  understood  in  France  may  be  learned 
by  studying  the  report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Sufferings  of 
Commerce  and  Industry  to  the  French  Senate,  already  referred  to. 
The  progress  of  our  industries  is  referred  to  as  a  foundation  for  a 
plea  in  favor  of  increased  protection  for  French  producers  and  for 
the  abrogation  of  treaties  of  commerce.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
have  the  silk  and  wine  producers,  especially,  •  demanding  a  treaty 
with  the  United  States  to  lower  our  tariff,  and  to  save  them  from 
the  same  competition  should  our  own  industries  continue  to  grow. 
The  report  to  the  French  Senate,  after  relating  in  brief  the 
unusual  progress  of  manufactures  in  Europe  up  to  1873,  says: 

"  This  abnormal  increase  was  necessarily  followed  by  deceptions,  as  much  more 
cruel  in  Europe,  as,  in  the  same  time  that  the  production  developed  them  to  excess, 
a  veritable  economic  revolution  was  taking  place  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
Under  a  system  almost  prohibitive,  since  the  duties  reach  to  50,  60,  and  even  90  per 
cent.,  the  United  States,  until  then  a  country  of  consumption,  organized  a  powerful 
industry,  the  products  of  which  can  now  rival  in  cheapness  those  of  England  herself. 

"Called  before  our  Commission,  the  lOih  of  last  December,  Mr.  Ozenne,  then 
Minister  of  Commerce,  showed  that  the  coUon  goods  of  the  United  States  were  com- 
peting vfiih  English  manufactures  in  London  and  Manchester.  American  metallurgy 
has  reduced  to  nothing  the  importations  of  metallurgists,  vast  establishments  produce 
and  work  in  iron,  and  our  colleague,  Mr.  Arbel,  has  seen  at  Philadelphia  factories 
which  construct  up  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  locomotives  per  annum,  or  more  than 
one  locomotive  per  day.  The  American  tanneries,  watch  factories,  in  a  word,  all  the 
industries,  suffice  not  only  for  the  wants  of  domestic  commerce,  but  also  take  part  in 
'.he  markets  of  South  America,  Canada,  China  and  Japan.  From  importer,  the  Uni- 
ted States  have  become  exporter. 

"  Thus,  therefore,  it  is,  at  the  very  moment  that  Europe  was  pushing  to  excess 
her  means  of  production,  that  a  country  of  consumers  was  not  only  shut  to  her,  but 
even  transformed  itself  into  a  redoubtable  competitor  and  disputed  with  her  a  part  of 
her  outlets. 

"  In  such  conditions  a  crisis  was  inevitable  in  Europe,  and  it  would  have  hap- 
pened even  without  the  political  complications  which  have  intensified  it. 

"  Deprived  of  her  outlets  in  certain  markets,  and  encountering  competition  in 
in  all  the  others,  England,  who  was  prepared  to  supply  the  whole  world,  threw  her- 
self with  more  earnestness  upon  her  rivals  of  the  continent.  Condemned  to  j)roduce 
without  ceasing — for  the  closing,  even  temporarily,  of  her  workshops  would  cause 
more  trouble  than  working  at  a  loss — she  has  reduced  her  prices  to  the  lowest  limits, 
so  as  not  to  be  stopped  by  the  customs  duties  of  her  neighbors.  The  result  has  been 
a  general  depreciation  of  manufactured  products,  a  depreciation  which  must  increase 
because  there  exist  enormous  stocks,  which,  even  with  a  pacific  settlement  of  the 
Eastern  question,  cannot  find  a  normal  outlet. 

"Production  is,  therefore,  no  longer  in  accord  with  consumption,  and  it  is  difTi- 
cult  to  believe  that  the  equilibrium  can  be  re-established,  for,  in  the  future,  we  must 
always  count  upon  the  industry  of  the  United  States,  of  India,  and  that  which  is  spring- 


173 

ing  up  in  other  countries,  which  propose  to  protect  their  domestic  trade  and  export  in 
their  turn." 

Under  the   head  of  cotton  industry  the   report    shows    that 

from  five  million  spindles  in  operation  in  the  United  States  in  i860, 

the  number  has  increased  to  twelve  millions  in  1877. 

"  If  we  do  not  take  care,"  says  the  Commission,  "  how  can  our  cotton  industry 
escape  being  crushed  in  the  great  battle  between  the  rival  industries  of  England  and 
the  United  States  ?  " 

Concerning  tanneries,  it  says  : 

"  After  the  war  of  1870-71,  the  tanning  trade  received  a  great  impulse,  for  it 
was  a  matter  of  replacing  the  stocks,  which  were  completely  exhausted.  This  indus- 
try was  in  a  prosperous  condition,  but  it  found  itself  confronted  by  the  competition  of 
the  United  States,  which,  in  this  respect,  as  in  so  many  others,  has  become  extremely 
formidable.  Only  a  little  while  ago  America  limited  herself  to  sending  us  hides, 
which  we  used  to  prepare  and  which  were  re-exported  in  great  part  after  being  trans- 
formed into  leather.  Now  the  United  States  have  created  colossal  tanneries,  and  one 
single  establishment  prepares  500,000  hides  per  annum.  There,  again,  the  United 
States  from  being  importers  have  become  exporters.  *  *  *  q^^  export- 
ations  to  the  Orient  have  almost  ceased  since  the  war.  The  Americans  have  furnished 
leather  to  the  belligerents  under  exceptional  conditions  of  cheapness.'' 

The  United  States  are  also  feared  as  a  rival  in  the  boot  and 
shoe  trade,  and  any  reduction  in  the  French  tariff  is  opposed  on 
that  score. 

Concerning  metallurgy,  there  is  a  great  deal  in  the  report. 
The  following  is  a.  paragraph  only  : 

"  From  the  depositions  all  together,  it  appears  that  since  1872,  the  metallurgical 
industiy  has  made  great  prog. ess  in  Germany.  On  another  side,  North  America, 
which  used  to  obtain  its  iron  from  Europe,  has  become  a  country  of  production  ;  it  is 
covered  with  workshops,  and  England  has  lost  on  that  side  almost  all  her  outlets.  * 
*  *  *  To  give  an  idea  of  the  development  of  American  metallurgy,  it  has  been 
related  to  us  that,  at  the  time  of  the  Exposition  at  Philadelphia,  there  were  already  in 
the  United  States  eleven  steel  factories,  able  to  produce  more  steel  rails  than  were 
necessary  for  the  domestic  trade  of  the  country.  The  American  outlet  is,  therefore, 
lost  foiever,  and  perhaps  even  America  will  come  to  compete  with  Europe  in  her  own 
markets. " 

Concerning  watch-making,  it  says  : 

"  In  conclusion,  the  United  States  make  300,000  watches  per  annum,  or  the  fifth 
of  the  European  production.  They  export  watches  even  to  Geneva,  and  the  Swiss,  so 
favorable  to  free  trade,  raise  their  tarilTs,  and  seek  to  protect  themselves  against  the 
United  States.'' 

Concerning  paper-making,  the  report  says  that  the  witnesses 
ask  for  an  increased  export  tax  on  rags,  because  they,  "especially 


174 

the  fine  qualities,  are  taken  away  by  the  United  States." 
Concerning  glass-working,  it  says  : 

"  It  is  to  be  remarked  that,  so  far  as  glasses  are  concerned,  Belgium  encounters 
already  a  serious  competition  in  the  United  States,  which  are  prepared  for  all  kinds  of 
production.  The  Belgian  products  thrown  back  from  the  United  States  are  cast  upon 
the  French  market." 

In  final  conclusions,  the  French  Commission  says  : 

"  The  United  States  have  shut  their  markets;  they  have  created,  under  shelter 
of  protection,  the  most  powerful  industries,  which,  in  almost  all  articles  of 
trade,  enters  into  competition  with  the  manufacturers  of  England  and  Europe 
throughout  the  whole  world.  There  is  seen  in  this  respect  a  veritable  economic  rev- 
olution, which  disconcerts  all  calculations.  It  is  enough  to  go  through  the  English 
journals,  to  consult  the  reports  of  British  Consuls  in  the  United  States,  and  those  of 
Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Great  Britain,  to  be  convinced  of  the  excitement  that 
reigns  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel. 

"England  provided  herself  with  the  machinery  to  provision  the  whole  world  with 
her  manufactured  articles.  She  had  dreamed  of  being  the  grand  workshop,  to  which 
the  raw  materials  of  all  countries  would  come  to  receive  prepmration.  She  had  for 
this  purpose  ships  to  bring  cotton,  minerals,  wool,  everything  to  her  indfeed,  and  to 
return  laden  with  manufactured  products.  She  had  coal  and  iron  at  small  cost.  Her 
spindles,  her  weaving  machines,  her  workshops,  are  still  innumerable.  When  he 
had  converted  his  compatriots  to  free  trade — those  who  had  sustained  prohibition  for 
centuries — Richard  Cobden  had  conceived  a  magnificent  project,  and  England  may 
erect  statues  in  his  honor. 

"  But  how  could  Cobden  foresee  that  one  day  the  Americans  would  think  of  spin- 
ning and  weaving  their  cotton  instead  of  sending  it  to  the  English  manufacturers? 
Could  he  foresee  that  the  United  States,  which  have  on  the  grouTid  iron,  coal,  cotton, 
the  raw  material,  would  shut  up  their  markets  and  cover  themselves  with  workshops  ? 

*  *  And  Germany,  who  would  have  supposed  that  she  would  develop  her 
metallurgical  industry,  as  she  has  developed  it,  and  that  the  Krupp  workshop  would 
become  one  of  the  greatest  in  Europe .'' 

"  In  a  word,  after  having  been  benefited  in  large  proportions  by  the  system  which 
she  caused  to  be  adopted  a  little  everywhere,  England  has,  to-day,  rivals — the  Ameri- 
cans, in  the  first  place  ;  her  own  subjects  in  India,  next  ;  the  Germans,  for  metal- 
lurgy. Markets  shut  themselves  before  her  and  competition  becomes  every  day  more 
formidable  ;  therefore,  cries  of  alarm  are  heard  fiom  London  to  Manchester.  They 
struggle  on,  they  produce  without  ceasing  ;  but  the  stocks  accumulate  and  the  man- 
ufacturers of  Lancashire  have  to  propose  to  their  workmen  a  reduction  of  salaries  of 
ten  per  cent.,  and  to  ask  them  to  pay  from  their  daily  bread  for  a  part  of  this  struggle 
beyond  measure,  which  will  terminate,  perhaps,  in  a  great  industrial  disaster.  In  fine, 
they  are  in  one  of  the  most  critical  of  situations,  which  dates  not  of  to-day,  and  which 
has  had  its  counterpart  in  France. 

"The  prices  of  manufactured  products  in  England  have  become  so  low  that 
there  have  been  sold  in  Paris,  at  five  cents  a  yard,  stocks  of  cloth,  the  cost  price 
pf  which  is  si.K  to  seven  cents.     In  order   not  to  let  them  invade  the  market,  the 


175 

French  producers  have  been  obHged  themselves  to  make  great  concessions  and  to  sell 
at  a  loss.     There  is  the  secret  of  the  crisis. 

"A  return  to  the  system  of  prohibition,  or  even  to  that  of  extreme  proteccion, 
would  not  be  desired  by  any  one,  even  though  the  United  States  have  largely  profiled 
by  it.  But  it  should  be  admitted  that  a  sensible  reaction  has  manifested  itself 
throughout  all  Europe  against  the  application  of  English  doctrines. 

"Russia  has  remained  protectionist  ;  she  keeps  on  raising  her  duties,  demands 
that  they  be  paid  in  gold,  and  gives  prizes  to  those  who  establish  workshops  within 
her  borders. 

"  Austro-Hungary  hesitates  to  conclude  new  treaties  of  commerce. 

"  Iialy,  in  the  project  of  treaty  with  France,  makes  us  submit  to  increased  duties 
prejudicial  to  a  great  number  of  our  industries. 

"  Switzerland  has  raised  her  tariffs  in  considerable  proportion. 

"  In  fine,  Germany  is  preparing  to  raise  her  tariff.  The  distress  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Alsace — distress  on  the  subject  of  which  your  Commission  has  received  pre- 
cise information — ^justifies  only  too  much  this  altitude  of  Germany. 

"We  do  not  argue  ;  we  limii  ourselves  to  stating  what  is  of  public  notoriety." 

Two  solutions  of  the  difficulty  were  proposed  to  the  French 
Senate— 7the  one  being  to  remain  in  statu  qico,  which  the  Commis- 
sion thinks  would  be  fatal  to  several  French  industries ;  the  other 
being  to  take  up  again  liberty  of  action,  and  a  general  tariff,  appli- 
cable to  all  countries,  which  offer  France  the  treatment  of  the  most 
favored  nation. 

"  We  repeat  it,"  says  the  report,  "  that  this  latter  would  be  only  a  transitory  sys- 
tem, essentially  subject  to  modification  and  which  would  not  imply  in  anything  the 
abandonment  for  the  future  of  the  system  of  treaties  of  commerce,  only  w^e  should 
choose  the  opportune  moment  to  conclude  such  treaties  ;  we  shall  have  learned  the 
wants  of  each  industry  and,  especially,  we  shall  have  been  able  to  appreciate  whaj; 
will  be  the  final  outcome  of  the  industrial  revolution  that  is  working  out  in  the  United 
States." 

The  Commission,  therefore,  proposed  to  the  Senate  to  adopt 
resolutions  requesting  the  Government  to  reserve  for  the  present 
the  question  of  treaties  of  commerce,  and  to  abrogate  simply  those 
which  exist  up  to  the  promulgation  of  the  new  general  tariff,  which 
is  beinof  considered  in  Parliament. 

"  1  his  general  tariff,"  the  rcsolutioij  says,  "which  should  be  established  with 
the  least  delay  possible,  will  be  applicable,  provisionally,  to  all  countries  which  accord 
us  the  treatment  of  the  most  favored  nation,  and  which  shall  not  oppress  our  products 
with  taxes  greater  than  we  impose." 

The  resolutions  also  demand  that  no  reduction  be  made  in  du- 
ties which  protect  any  industry  and  that  they  be  increased  in  a 
sufficient  degree  for  those  which  are  suffering. 


176 

Meanwhile,  however,  another  party,  more  sanguine  and  less 
practical,  has  sent  Mr.  Chotteau  to  this  country,  hoping  to  induce 
us  to  make  a  radical  change  in  our  tariff  system,  to  relieve  Europe 
by  letting  in  upon  our  markets  the  excess  of  the  European  bank- 
rupt stocks,  and  to  retard  our  industrial  competition. 

The  French  journalists  also  clearly  comprehend  the  situation. 

The  La  France  o(  OctohQr  iSth,  1878,  says  that  "it  would  be 
puerile  to  deny  that  the  United  States,  after  having  long  paid 
tribute  to  Europe,  is  making  her  tributary." 

The  Le  Ttmps,  of  November  22d,  1878,  says: 

"Carried  away  by  the  pride  of  success,  the  Americans  now  poke  fun  at  the  En- 
glish. They  have  come  to  making  sport  of  the  theories  of  free  trade,  and  they  attrib- 
ute solely  to  protection,  of  which  ihey  have  been  since  1865  the  most  ardent  defend- 
ers, the  marvelous  results  which  they  have  attained. 

"  France,  it  is  sad  to  say,  is  not  less  menaced  by  them  than  England.  For  even 
in  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  they  have  established  ribbon  trades,  which  are  conducted  by 
steam,  and  which  have  shut  out  for  ever  from  American  shores  a  portion  of  French 
silks.  St.  Etienne,  which  a  few  years  ago,  and  in  spile  of  protective  tariffs,  used  to 
send  to  the  United  States  ribbons  valued  at  twenty  million  francs,  now  sends  scarcely 
any  at  all.  We  have  been  able  to  see  at  the  Exposition  one  of  the  Paterson  ma- 
chines working  and  weaving  automatically,  before  the  eyes  of  visitors,  fancy  ribbons. 

"In  how  many  American  industries  does  this  intelligent  introduction  of  ma- 
chines not  permit  victorious  competition  with  similar  industries  of  Europe  !  Thence 
come  the  repeated  cries  of  our  commerce  ;  thence  the  incessant  menace  of  the  Uni- 
ted Slates,  principally  against  England.  The  latter  feels  hersef  struck,  and  one  of 
her  statesmen,  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  regrets,  they  say,  having  written  his  famous  article 
in  the  North  American  Review,  has  charitably  advised  her  of  the  fact  during  the  last 
month.  From  being  a  customer  America  has  become  a  competitor  and  this  even 
in  the  markets  of  Europe  themselves.  She  is  no  longer  a  consumer  ;  she  is  a  pro- 
ducer. Such  is  the  economic  fact,  which  is  established  in  all  its  brutality  by  the  as- 
tonishing industrial  progress  of  the  United  States  during  the  last  twelve  years. 

"It  is  true  that  they  complain  also  in  the  United  States  ofthe  industrial  crisis,  which, 
at  this  time,  seems  general,  and  strikes  in  some  way  the  whole  world  ;  but  business  is 
beginning  to  revive  everywhere — in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  San  Francisco  ; 
in  New  Orleans,  delivered  at  last  from  yellow  fever,  and  in  Charleston  and  Savannah, 
which  have  never  seen  such  a  cotton  crop  as  they  have  now.  The  crop  of  cereals  has 
passed  all  proportions,  and  the  elevators  of  Chicago  are  overflowing  with  wheat  and 
corn.  They  complain  still  —a  litde  by  habit ;  but  abundance  is  throughout  the 
country.  '  When  I  return  to  my  country,'  said  an  English  diplomat  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, '  if  I  stop  my  ears  and  open  my  eyes,  I  see  everything  prosperous  and  flourish- 
ing ;  but  if  I  shut  my  eyes  and  open  my  ears,  I  hear  only  complaints,  and  imagine 
that  there  is  only  misery  everywhere.'  This  is  what,  at  the  present  time,  in  some 
degree,  is  seen  and  heard  in  the  United  States,  and  perhaps  in  many  other  nations." 


177 

The  A77terican  Register,  published  in  Paris,  is  one  of  the  few 
American  institutions  there  which  has  not  been  corrupted  by  its 
surroundings.  It  assumes  certain  partisan  positions,  but  from 
American,  not  European,  standpoints.  In  its  issue  of  November 
1 6th,  reviewing  the  situation  of  the  United  States,  it  says: 

"As  regards  alteialions  in  the  tariff,  it  is  scircely  the  moment  when  foreign  nations, 
in  both  hemispheres,  are  increasing  the  scveri  y  of  their  Custom  laws  to  relax  ours." 

The  French  people  fully  appreciate  the  situation.  "The  boot 
is  on  the  other  leg"  now;  and  those  who  have  preached  free  trade 
while  they  controlled  the  markets  of  the  world,  in  order  to  keep 
those  markets  open,  are  now  beginning  to  threaten  the  United 
States  with  closinof  theT  markets  if  we  do  not  lower  our  duties  and 
permit  them  to  crush  out  our  young  established  industries.  No 
matter  what  we  may  afford  to  do  in  the  future,  when  business 
becomes  settled  aeain  througfhout  the  world,  we  cannot  afford  to 
make  any  experiments  now,  while  our  present  condition  is  so  satis- 
factory to  our  own  interests. 

Europe,  in  many  ways,  menaces  us  now  with  ill-disguised  threats 
in  case  we  persist  in  being  successful ;  their  threats  are  all  in  vain, 
for  they  cannot  afford  to  raise  the  duties  on  any  of  the  principal 
articles  which  they  import  from  us.  They  must  be  content  to^see 
us,  by  means  of  our  exports,  calling  home  our  bonds  and  railroad 
securities,  and  the  gold  which  has  been  drained  from  us.  They 
must  be  content  to  see  us  paying  our  debts  and  our  workmen  at 
the  same  time,  for  we  cannot  afford  to  relapse  into  a  Colonial  mar- 
ket condition  to  please  them.  They  have  had  warning  long  enough  ; 
but  they  would  not  heed  it.  The  prize  of  holding  the  money  centre 
of  the  world  is  in  store  for  the  United  States ;  we  have  the 
same  right  to  hold  it  that  England  has,  the  right  of  successful  in'.el- 
ligent  industry  ;  and  we  have  room  in  America  for  those  whose 
occupation  will  be  gone  in  Europe. 

What  we  need  now  more  than  all  else  is  a  crystallization  of 
American  spirit  and  na  ionalit)-.  We  need  leaders  in  all  occupa- 
tions to  teach  Americans  to  be  proud  of  their  own  work  and  to  use 
the  products  of  American  workmen  in  j)refercnce  to  those  ol  for- 
eign lands.  We  need  to  establish  happy  homes  by  making  our 
workmen  feel  secure  in  a  health)-  condition  of  honest  domestic 
commerce.  We  need  commercial  honesty  and  fair  dealing  between 
merchant  and   consumer.     We   need  in   every  city  to  be  able  to 


178 

point  out  the  honest  traders.  Dishonest  trading  has  weakened  iis 
a  thousand  fold  more  than  poHtical  dishonesty ;  the  latter  has  only 
been  one  of  the  evidences  of  the  former. 


What  Advantacres  the  French    Market  Might  Offer. 

But  in  answer  to  all  that  I  have  said,  Mr.  Chotteau  will  still 
insist  that,  if  we  only  had  the  benefit  of  the  conventional  tariff  of 
France,  we  should  vastly  increase  our  exports. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  statistics  of  French  commerce  as 
given  in  the  official  reports  of  the  Frencli  customs  service 
(La  Dcnianc ),  and  from  them  determine,  as  well  as  we  can,  what 
kind  of  a  market  France  has  to  offer  us.  We  can  learn  something 
by  studying  her  trade  with  other  countries. 

I  shall  make  use  only  of  the  statistics  under  the  head  of  Spe- 
cial Commerce  (Commerce  Special),  which  term  is  easily  explained. 
In  the  matter  of  imports  it  includes  only  net  amounts,  intended  for 
consumption  in  France,  and  in  exports  it  includes  all  products  of 
France,  together  with  such  foreign  products  as  have  become  natu- 
ralized by  free  entry,  or  by  the  payment  of  duties.  In  this  way 
only  can  fair  comparisons  be  made.  For  instance,  the  United 
States  exports  large  quantities  ot  alcohol  to  Marseilles.  They  are 
not,  however,  entered  for  consumption,  but  are  re-exported;  hence, 
they  should  not  be  counted  in  our  exports  to  France.  Likewise, 
France  exports  a  large  quantity  of  silk  ribbons  to  the  United 
States,  which  are  the  products  of  Switzerland.  We  should 
not  count  these  as  imports  from  France.  We  want  to  know 
what  France  consumes  of  our  products  and  what  products  of 
France  we  consume.  I  shall  therefore  only  refer  to  special  com- 
mercial statistics,  in  ascertaining  the  value  of  the  French 
market  to  us. 

The  French  commerce  with  the  world  shows  the  following  aver- 
age total  annual  imports  and  exports  combined  during  five  decades, 
viz. 


179 


p   1^  ;> 


3  trq 


^3  k  ^ 


1827-36 I  $    200,200,000 

1837-46 1      297,800,000 

1847-56   1      460,000,000 

1857-66 , {      926,000,000 

I867-I876 ■. I   1,342,780,000 


■  ^'1 

■  <  =1 

$  8,200,000 

29,400,000 
46,000,000 

ediffer- 
favor  of 

$I2,2C0,000 

20,200,000 

During  the  year  1877  importations  were  in  excess  of  exporta- 
tions  $46,<Soo,ooo. 

The  exportations  have  steadily  fallen,  and  the  importations 
have  increased  rapidly  since  1875. 

The  importations  have  decreased  from  England  and  Belgium 
especially,  and  have  increased  principally  from  the  United  States,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  Russia,  Turke\'.  British  India,  Algiers  and  the  Argen- 
tine Republic. 

The  exportations  have  decreased  principally  to  Belgium,  Ger- 
many. Switzerland,  the  United  States  and  Italy,  and  have  increased 
to  England. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  relative  importance  of  the 
French  trade  (special  commerce)  for  1877  with  eight  leading 
markets : 


Imports.  Exports. 

England §114,860,000  $211,800,000 

Belgium 81,780,000  89,200,000 

Germany 74,560,000  79,020,000 

Italy 68,360,000  37, 100,000 

United   States 51,560,000  43,320,000 

Algiers 14,420,000  27,620,000 

Switzt-rland 19,220,000  47,440,000 

Spain 21,840,000  26,500,000 


Balance 
against  France. 


$31,260,000 
8,240,000 


Balance 
for  France. 
$96,940,000 
7,420,000 
4,460,000 


13,200,000 

28,220,000 

4,660,000 


The  advantage  in  favor  of  the  United  States  is  much  greater  for 
1878  than  for  1877,  but  I  have  not  yet  obtained  a  complete  report 
similar  to  those  for  preceding  years  from  which  I  compile  this 
statement. 

It  is  noticeable  from  the  above  statements  that  the  balance  of 
trade  is  largely  in  favor  of  krance  in  her  commerce  with  countries 
with  which  she  has  special  treaties  of  commerce,  and  that,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  United  States  has  no  such  treaty  and 
suffers  from  absolute  prohibitions  uflder  the  French  general  tariff 
as  well  as  from  high  duties  on  many  articles  which  we  are  permit- 
ted to  export,  our  exportations  to  France  are  steadily  increasing 
and  importations  are  decreasing. 


i8o 

A  comparison  of  the  foregoing  statements,  together  with 
a  careful  examination  of  a  mass  of  other  statistics,  shows  that  the 
increase  of  tlie  aggregate  imports  and  exports  of  France  since 
i860 — or  the  dates  of  the  treaties  with  Enorland,  Belg-ium  and 
other  countries,  is  not  wholly  due  to  such  treaties.  The  expansion 
of  trade  has  been  general  throughout  the  world  during  the  present 
century,  and  France  has  only  kept  pace  with  the  world's  progress 
and  with  the  ratio  of  increase  shown  prior  to  1 860.  The  general  prog- 
ress of  civilization  in  educating  mankind  and  in  providing  facilities 
for  transportation  has  increased  the  demand  for  the  comforts  of 
life  and  articles  of  luxury,  and  France,  through  her  industries, 
which  slic  has  protected,  has  reaped  a  great  harvest  for  her  work- 
innrmen,  and  is  only  now  checked  by  the  competition  of  similar  in- 
dustries, which  have  been  fostered  in  the  countries  where  she 
formerly  found  markets. 

France,  however,  it  will  be  shown,  does  not  reciprocate  by 
demanding  her  proportion  of  the  products  of  the  art  and  mechan- 
ical ingenuity  of  other  countries.  She  offers  only  a  market  for 
raw  material  necessary  to  her  industries,  natural  products  for  food 
and  for  the  cheapest  and  coarsest  of  manufactured  goods  for  the 
consumption  of  the  laboring  class,  who  toil  for  pittances  to  sustain 
her  exportations  against  the  competition  of  the  workmen  of  other 
nations,  whose  demands  for  personal  and  home  comforts  are 
greater. 

The  French  people  have  been  prejudiced  by  education  and 
their  system  of  laws  through  succeeding  generations  against  the 
styles,  tastes  and  customs  of  foreigners ;  they  rarely  leave  their 
country  to  travel  for  pleasure,  seldom  even  for  business,  and  there- 
fore acquire  few  new  tastes  and  wants;  and,  even  when  they  emi- 
grate, it  is  noticeable  that  new  experiences  seldom  enlarge  the 
field  of  their  wants,  or  habits — they  do  not  become  consumers, 
beyond  necessity,  of  the  products  of  the  country  in  which  they  feel 
doomed  to  reside,  away  from  La  Belle  Finance. 

It  would  be  invidious  in  me  to  refer  to  these  national  character- 
istics in  this  manner,  if  it  were  not  necessary  to  explain  why  it  is 
that  France,  with  or  without  antreaty,  does  not  offer  a  good  mar- 
ket for  the  manufactured  products  of  other  nations  ;  indeed,  in 
many  respects  I  wish  Americans  were  more  like  Frenchmen  and 
Frenchmen   more  like  Americans — then  we  might  reasonably  talk 


i8i 

of  reciprocal  commerce.  Treaties  do  not  seem  to  change  the  tastes 
and  habits  of  the  French  people,  as  an  analysis  of  her  imports  from 
England,  since  the  treaty  of  1 860,  will  show.  Paris  is  only  nine 
hours  from  London;  there  are  several  lines  of  railroads  and  steam- 
ers, constantly  crowded  by  English  tourists  and  commercial  agents, 
but  Frenchmen  are  seldom  seen  crossing  the  channel  except  on 
urgent  business  ;  London  must  come  to  Paris — Paris  will  not  go  to 
London.  Consequently  England  imported  in  1877  from  France 
nearly  twice  as  much  as  she  exported  in  return.  In  England  there 
is,  as  in  the  United  States,  an  ever  constant  demand  for  the  novel 
and  beautiful  products  of  all  Christendom  and  all  Heathendom, 
which  are  sought  after  and  displayed  side  by  side  with  rich,  rare 
and  solid  products  of  the  home  country.  The  handiwork  of  the 
foreign  artisan  is  not  rejected  because  it  looks  "odd  " — it  is  prized 
rather  on  that  account,  or,  perhaps,  because  the  English  have  a 
catholic  appreciation  for  all  good  things.  In  France,  however, 
articles,  whichare  not  according  to  th&goid  Franfais,  are  summarily 
rejected  and  spurned;  nothing  is  prized  in  France  on  account 
of  its  oddity,  novelty,  or  contrast,  the  French  harmony  must  per- 
vade everything.  New  wants,  new  demands,  except  in  matters 
necessary  for  the  support  of  life,  or  industries,  are  rare  things  in 
France. 

We  can  only  increase  greatly  our  trade  with  France  in  advance 
of  the  natural  expansion  of  the  general  volume  of  commerce,  by 
supplying  raw  material  to  feed  industries  which  we  may  decline  to 
compete  with.  If,  however,  we  properly  protect  our  working-men 
against  competition  with  the  overworked,  poorly  paid  and  poorly 
comforted  working  families  of  France,  we  shall,  within  this  genera- 
tion, need  our  raw  material  for  our  own  factories.  If,  however,  we 
force  our  industries  to  compete  on  a  level  with  those  of  P^rance, 
we  shall,  after  years  of  strikes  and  labor  troubles,  by  the  rigid  law  of 
necessity  and  the  cry  for  "  daily  bread,"  succeed  also  in  the  indus- 
trial battle,  for  France  has  no  permanent  advantage  except  in  the 
poverty  and  limited  wants  of  her  laboring  classes  ;  but  we  shall 
see  our  boasted  public  schools  and  the  general  enlightenment  of 
our  people,  vain  supports  of  a  class  which  is  taught  only  to  know 
its  wants  and  then  is  prevented  by  the  vile  competition  of  unsym- 
pathetic and  ruinous  commerce  from  enjoying  what  it  has  learned 
to   recognize.     An  army   of  manufacturers,  backed   by  millions  of 


l82 

capital,  employing  an  enlightened  working  class,  whose  houses  arc 
decent  and  whose  families  have  pride  and  hope  for  the  future,  can- 
not compete  in  foreign  trade  with  an  equal  foreign  army,  employ- 
ing a  working  class  which  has  never  been  taught  to  hope  for  com- 
fort, happy  family  relations  and  a  fair  share  of  the  products  of 
industry  in  return  for  labor. 

We  cannot,  therefore,  expect  American  workingmen,  except 
when  aided  by  machinery  of  superior  excellence,  to  submit  to  even 
competition  with  French  workmen  ;  they  will  not  submit  to  it  un- 
less after  years  of  suffering.  For  this  reason  it  is  in  vain  for  us  to 
listen  to  illusory  promises  ;  under  no  circumstances  during  this 
generation  can  we  expect  to  compete  in  French  markets  to  any 
great  extent  against  French  artisans,  excepting  for  the  supply  of 
raw  material,  food  and  coarse,  cheap  fabrics.  The  small  quantities 
of  manufactures  of  special  value  and  useful  machines,  secured  by  pat- 
ent rights,  and  temporary  lots  of  manufactured  goods  of  other  kinds, 
which  we  may  export  to  relieve  overburdened  markets,  or  to  sup- 
ply unusual  deficiencies,  should  not  be  estimated  in  this  connection. 

We  may  increase  our  exports  under  a  treaty  with  France,  but 
it  will  be  mainly  in  the  line  of  raw  material;  and,  if  the  treaty  be 
such  as  is  now  proposed,  our  small  gain,  which  would  bring  us 
little  profit,  would  be  offset  ten-fold  by  the  destruction  of  vast 
industries,  which,  to  supply  our  home  market,  would  require  ten-fold 
the  raw  material  and  labor  that  would  be  accounted  for  by  our 
increased  exports. 

If  we  make  no  treaty  at  all,  we  do  not  suffer,  as  experience 
proves,  for  all  that  France  produces  we  are  aiming  and  able  to 
produce  ourselves;  hence,  we  shall  not  lose  in  the  line  of  civiliza- 
tion. Our  tariffs  prohibit  nothing  until  home  productions  become 
cheaper  than  importations.  \Vc  have  a  right,  however,  to  demand 
from  France  as  free  a  market  as  we  grant  to  her  people;  we  shall 
not  complain  of  a  general  protective  tariff,  in  place  of  her  present 
prohibitions,  which  protects  her  working  people  against  our  own. 
who  are  cnofaofed  in  rival  industries;  where  we  are  not  rivals,  we 
can,  under  a  general  and  open  tariff,  fairly  and  profitably  trade, 
'ihis  is  not,  however,  the  design  of  the  proposed  treaty.  Its 
design  is  to  prevent  the  growth  of  rival  industries  in  this  country, 
now  menacing  the  future  of  the  trade  heretofore  monopolized  by 
France. 


i83 

To  return  to  the  more  eloquent  statistics.  The  French  Cus~ 
toms  reports  show  an  analysis  of  the  total  imports  and  exports 
according  to  their  nature. 

The  imports  from  all  countries  are  classified  for  the  years  1S75 
and  1S77,  as  follows: 

iS/5  1S77. 

Raw  material   necessary  to  Industry $470,000  000  $452,300,000 

^v-     ,      ,  ,.        ]  Natural 160,280000  207,560,000 

Ubiects  of  coniumption    h  at        r     ►       j  ^^  ,  .^  -^^  - .  .„ 

■'  '  )  Manulactured 77,140,000  74,100,0:0 

Total    $707,420,000  $733,960,000 

The  foregoing  table  shows  that  only  about  ten  per  cent,  of  the 

total  imports  of  France  are  classed  as  manufactured  articles.     The 

objects  of  consumption  classed  as  "  natural,"  are  entirely  under  the 

class  of  alimentary  substances,  such  as  cereals,  meat,  coffee,  spirits, 

etc. 

The  statistics  of  exportation  show,  as  follows  ; 

1S75  1877 

Raw  material,  food,  etc $384,440,000  $356,380,000 

Manufactures, 390,080,000  330,880,000 

Total $774,520,000  $687,260,000 

This  last  statement  shows  that  France  exports  about  fifty  per 
cent,  manufactured  goods  against  ten  per  cent,  imported. 

Inasmuch  as  she  has  had,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  treaties  of 
commerce  with  manufacturing  nations,  such  as  Great  Britain,  Bel- 
gium, Germany,  Holland,  and  Switzerland,  whose  proximity  and 
long  experience  in  the  wants  of  European  trade  far  excel  any  ad- 
vantages we  can  everhave, and  inasmuchasFrance,  in  1877,  only  im- 
ported seventy-four  million  dollars  worth  of  manufactured  goods  from 
all  the  world,  England,  Belgium,  etc.,  included,  do  not  these  state- 
ments expose  the  utter  fallacy  of  the  glowing  promises  of  increased 
trade  so  lavishly  and  carelessly  uttered  by  Mr.  Chotteau  in  his  ad- 
dresses to  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  ihe  United  States  ? 

If,  however,  there  be  any  virtue  in  such  treaties  of  commerce 
with  France  from  the  standpoint  of  the  industries  of  the  nations 
contracting  with  her,  we  should  look  for  it  especially  in  England,  Bel- 
gium and  Germany,  nations  which  have  taken  an  advanced  position 
in  manufacturing,  and  whose  main  support  in  foreign  trade  de- 
pends upon  the  exportation  of  manufactures.  Moreover,  sufficient 
time  has  elapsed  to  test  the  practical  operation  of  their  treaties  and 
every  facility  is  afforded  for  speedy  exchanges,  as  well  as  for  the 
study  of  the  markets  to  be  supplied.  An  analysis  of  the  French 
statistics  for  1877  shows  ; 


184 

I  St.   Imports  into  France  from 

England.  Belgium.  Germany. 

R.aw  material,  etc.,  necessary  to  industry S  77,007,000  $60,964,000  $37,420,000 

Food    material 5,623,000  12,618,000  18,083,000 

Manufactures .., 32,233,000  8,206,000  19,052,000 

Total  imports $114,863,000         $81,788,000         $74,555,000 

Per,cent.  of  raw  material .68  .74  ,50 

Pei  cent,  of  food .04  .16  .24 

Per  cent,  of  manufactures .20  .10  .26 

2d.  Exports  from  France  to 

England.  Belgium.  Germany. 

Raw  material,  food,  etc $123,100,000         $56,840,000         $45,530,000 

Manufactures 88,700,000  32,360,000  33,490,000 

Total  exports $211,800,000        $89,200,000        $79,020,000 

Per  cent,  of  manufactures .42  .36  .42 

Excess  of  total  exports  over  imports $  96,937,000         $  7,412,000         $  4,465,000 

Total    manufactures  imported  from  England,  Belgium  and  Germany 59,491,000 

Total  manufactures  exported  to  England,  Belgium  and  Germany .  .    154,550,000 

In  considering  the  foregoing  table  it  should  be  remembered 
that  England,  Belgium  and  Germany  are  practically  contiguous 
with  France  and  that  neighboring  regions  are  more  likely  to  be- 
come accustomed  to  the  use  of  each  others'  manufactures.  It 
seems  strange,  even  considering  the  conservative  and  provincial 
characteristics  of  the  French  people,  that  France  should  not  con- 
sume more  of  the  manufactures  of  England,  Belgium  and  Germany 
than  she  does  now,  even  without  the  aid  of  a  low  tariff  under  spe- 
cial treaties.  If  Belgium  can  sell  only  $8,206,000  of  manufactured 
goods  to  France  with  the  aid  of  a  treaty,  what  hope  is  there  for 
the  sale  of  American  manufactures  under  Mr.  Chotteau's  proposed 
treaty  ?  We  certainly  could,  to  some  extent,  increase  our  sales, 
but  we  should  increase  our  imports  ten  fold  and  by  so  doing  prac- 
tically destroy  a  home  market  for  the  same  class  of  goods  that  we 
should  send  to  France  by  destroying  industries  affected  by  im- 
portations. The  home  market  is  far  more  important  to  our  manu- 
facturers of  scales  and  carriages  than  the  French  market.  More 
Brewster  buggies  can  be  sold  in  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  where  the 
silk  industry  now  flourishes,  than  in  Paris,  and  more  Howe  scales 
will  be  required  to  weigh  American  silk  goods  than  could  be  sold 
in  Lyons,  or  throughout  France. 

Here  is  the  analysis  of  the  trade  of  the  United  States  with 
France,  according  to  the  P>ench  statistics  for  1877  : — 


i85 

1st.   Imports  into  France  from 

The  Pacific  Coast.  Atlantic  Ports.  Totals. 

Raw  material,  etc $    7,508  $43,340,000  $43.347. 5oS 

Foo'J         "                183,538  7,432,000  7,615.538 

Manufactures   589,000  589,000 

Total  impor:s $191,046  $51,361,000  $51,552,046 

Per  cent,  raw  material 842 

Per  cent,  food         "      147 

Per  cent,  manufactures oil 

2d.  Exports  from  France  to 

The  Pacific  Coast,         Atlantic  Ports.  Totals.'* 

Raw  material,  food,  etc $364,400  $  9,600,000  $  9,964,400 

Manufactures 350,000  33,000,000  33,35o,coo 

Totals $714,400  $42,600,000  $43,314,400 

Per  cent,  of  Manufactures ^ 77 

Excess  of  imports  over  exports $8,237,646 

This  last  table  develops  the  true  character  of  our  trade  with 
France,  viz: 

France  imports,  in  manufactured  goods  from  all  the  world, 
§74,000,000;  the  United  States  imports  from  France  alone, 
$33,000,000.  The  total  importation  of  manufactures  into  the 
United  States  from  all  the  world,  for  the  year  ending  June  30th, 
1878,  was  $257,000,000;  in  1873  it  was  $422,000,000,  nearly  six 
times  as  much  as  that  of  France.  The  relative  consuming  power 
of  the  two  countries  for  manufactures  is  here  exhibited,  and  the 
value  of  our  market  to  the  French  is  demonstrated;  no  wonder 
they  desire  to  preserve  this  market  by  checking  our  industries. 

France  imported  only  S589  000  in  manufactured  goods  from 
us,  against  $33,000,000  exported  to  us.  She  took  in  manufactures 
one  per  cent.;  while  we  took  in  the  same  time,  seventy-seven  per 
cent.  If  we  should  succeed  under  a  treaty  in  sending  her  ten  per 
cent,  we  should  then  take  at  least  ninety  per  cent.;  but  I  shall  show 
that  we  cannot  even   attain  to  the  ten  per  cent,  within  a  decade. 

We  took,  in  general  terms,  as  much  of  French  manufactures 
as  either  Belgium  or  Germany,  notwithstanding  our  protective 
tariff;  notwithstanding  the  French  treaties  with  Belgium  and  Ger- 
many;  notwithstanding  their  close  and  neighborly  relations. 

Of. the  alimentary  substances  received  by  us  from  France, 
such  articles  as  pickled  olives,  olive  oil,  sardines,  potted  meats, 
pates,  etc.,  should  be  reckoned  among  manufactures,  the  cost  of 
labor  being  greatly  added  to  the  original  natural  products.  The 
food  materials  exported  by  us,  however,  were  generally  simple  and 
crude,  realizing  small  profits  to  our  industries. 


i86 

The  manufacturers  of  France,  though  they  may  lament  the 
decreasing  market  for  their  goods  in  our  country,  and  the  growth 
of  our  industries,  have  yet  no  reason  for  complaint  against  our  laws, 
wliich  admit  $33,000,000  worth  of  their  wares. 

We  must  estimate  the  value  of  our  foreign  trade  principally  by 
such  comparisons  as  these  ;  for  though  we  may  now  be  fortunate 
in  our  shipments  of  raw  and  food  materials,  in  this  there  is  no  cer- 
tainty of  demand.  We  shall  find  markets  for  them  wherever  they 
are  needed  without  treaties,  and  it  would  be  folly  for  us  to  increase 
our  present  markets  for  them  at  the  expense  of  our  markets  at 
home,  thereby  causing  our  agriculturists  to  suffer  the  expense  of 
increased  transportation. 

When  we  turn  to  the  importations  from  England,  Belgium  and 
Germany  into  France,  we  find  that  the  increase  from  Belgium  has 
been  mainly  in  raw  material,  such  as  coal,  wool,  animals,  flax,  com- 
mon wood,  building  material,  hops,  zinc,  and  coke;  these  items  com- 
prising nearly  two-thirds  of  the  entire  importation.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  cheap  labor  of  Belgium,  the  excess  of  production  and  her 
proximity  to  France,  she  found  a  market,  in  1877,  for  only  four 
million  dollars  worth  of  cotton,  linen  and  hemp  threads  or  yarns, 
and  two  million  dollars  worth  of  woolen,  linen,  cotton  and  hemp 
tissues.  On  the  other  hand  France  was  able  to  send  to  Belofium 
four  and  a  half  million  dollars  of  woolen,  linen,  hemp  and  cotton 
thread  or  yarn,  and  nine  and  a  half  millions  of  woolen,  silk,  cotton, 
linen  and  hemp  tissues. 

Germany  succeeds  much  better  than  Belgium,  probably  on 
account  of  the  contiguous  markets  on  the  Rhine  and  the  French 
affiliations  with  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  where  there  are  large  cotton 
and  other  industries,  claiming  French  sympathy  and  former  trade 
relations.  Nevertheless,  more  than  one-third  in  value  of  the  total 
importations  from  Germany  are  comprised  in  animals,  common 
wood,  coal  and  coke,  hides,  cereals  and  beer.  Germany  sends 
across  the  Rhine  eight  and  one-half  million  dollars  worth  of  cotton, 
woolen,  silk,  linen  and  hemp   tissues,  and   imports  ten  and  a  half 

millions. 

The  Alsatian  provinces  furnished  France  with  nearly  $4,000,- 
000  worth  of  yarns  and  import  only  about  $1,000,000.  In  this  pe- 
culiar trade,  fostered  by  close  business  relations  and  sympathies, 
the  United  States  cannot  expect  to  interfere  seriously  at  any  time. 
The  extent  of  the  trade  is  likewise  small. 


i87 

The  trade  with  England  shows  more  rivalry  in  the  textile  in- 
dustries, the  battle  having  resulted,  however,  greatly  in  favor  of 
France.  England  found  a  market  in  France  in  ^^-77  for  <?  19,500,000 
worth  of  woven  goods  and  took  from  France  848,000,000.  In 
yarns  and  threads  she  sent  $5,000,000,  and  took  only  $1,000,000. 
The  balance  in  favor  of  France,  on  account  of  textile  manufac- 
tures, was,  therefore,  over  $24,000,000 — much  greater  than  all  she 
took  from  England. 

France  exported  to  England  a  large  excess  in  woolen  and 
silk  ^^oods  ;  England  exported  an  excess  in  cotton,  linen  and  hemp 
amounting  to  only  about  $8,000,000.  The  excess  in  favor  of 
France  on  woolen  and  silk  goods  was  over  $30,000,000. 

Probably,  if  we  should,  at  the  present  time,  negotiate  a  treaty 
with  France,  we  should  experience  a  less  favorable  result  than  is 
enjoyed  by  England,  because  there  is  beginning  to  be  a  revival  of 
the  French  cotton  industry,  and  the  present  bankrupt  stocks  of 
French  silks  would  crush  our  silk  industries  more  rapidly  than 
they  have  reduced  the  English.  I  shall  show  soon  why  it  is  that 
French  factories  can  compete  successfully  against  the  English,  and 
for  the  same  reason  aorainst  our  own. 

The  raw  material  imported  from  England  is  principally  wool, 
coal,  silk,  copper,  iron,  jute,  tallow,  cotton  and  hides  in  the  order 
given.  To  compete  in  any  of  these  items,  except  coal,  we  should 
need  to  reduce  our  own  exports  to  England  in  order  to  increase 
those  to  France. 

In  cereals,  France  exported  to  England  $15,000,000,  and 
imported  only  $360,000.  Froui  this  statement,  it  does  not 
appear  that  there  can  be  any  large  market  for  our  cereals 
in   France. 

From  the  standpoint  of  our  present  trade  relations  with 
France,  we  should  not  consider  our  fortunes  increased  by  assuming 
those  of  either  England,  Belgium  or  Germany.  England,  however, 
was  rightly  in  favor  of  tlie  treaty  with  France,  for  the  same  reason 
that  she  now  demands  a  new  one  with  still  better  advantages  for 
her  trade.  England  had  already  committed  herself  to  free  trade, 
and  any  reduction  in  foreign  tariffs  was  to  her  advantage.  She  has, 
however,  much  more  to  gain  before  she  can  trade  evenly;  this  the 
French  are  not  willing  to  grant,  because  they  intend,  as  formerly, 
to  reserve  sufficient  protection  for  their  own  workmen. 


i88 

A  comparison  of  the  average  annual  imports  and  exports  of 
certain  leading  products,  affecting  French  industry,  for  the  decades 
1847-56  and  1867-76.  will  show  to  some  extent  how  France  suc- 
ceeds, under  her  treaties  of  commerce  with  great  producing  nations, 
such  as  Austria,  Belgium,  England,  Germany,  Italy,  Norway, 
Netherlands,  Portugal,  Turkey,  Sweden  and  Switzerland,  which 
treaties  were  negotiated  between  those  two  periods. 

1ST.       ANNUAL    AVERAGE    OF    LEADING    IMPORTS    INTO    FRANCE. 

1847-56.  1867-76. 

Annual  average  of  values  of  spirits,  wines,  silk,  woolen,  cotton, 
leather,  linen,  hemp  and  paper  manufactures,  machines, 
metal  works  and  sugar $i  1,000,000  $62,000,000 

Average  annual  increase  for  decade  1867-76  over  1847-56 — 
$51,000,000. 

2D.       EXPORTS. ANNUAL     AVERAGES     OF     LEADING    ARTICLES    OF 

INDUSTRY    FROM    FRANCE,    FOR 

1S47-56.  1867-76. 

Articles  same  as  preceding  table $154,000,000  $302,000,000 

Average  annual  increase  of  exports  in  1867-76  over  1847-56 
— $148,000,000. 

From  this  statement  it  appears  that  in  the  leading  articles  of 
French  industry,  the  treaties  of  commerce  have  caused  her  to 
increase  her  exports  $148,000,000,  while  increasing  her  imports 
only  $51,000,000.  Her  imports  of  raw  material  have  exceeded 
her  exports.  It  is  to  this  kind  of  commerce  that  we  are  invited, 
the  result  of  which  would  be,  that  in  another  generation  we  should, 
by  our  free  supplies  of  raw  material,  and  our  abandonment  of  man- 
facturing  industries,  elevate  France  into  the  lead  among  industrial 
nations,  instead  of  holding  that  place  ourselves. 

The  value  of  French  commerce  in  the  products  of  leading 
industries,  as  above  shown,  is  much  greater  when  the  great  profits 
in  exchanges  of  fancy  and  toilet  goods,  artificial  flowers  and  milli- 
nery are  considered  ;  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  accurate 
statements  concerning  them  in  detail  for  1847-56. 

I  have  already  shown  how  the  exports  of  the  United  States 
have  begun  to  compete  in  foreign  markets  with  some  of  the  articles 
upon  which  profits  of  French  commerce  are  based  ;  and  also  how 
greatly  and  rapidly  our  imports  of  all  of  them  are  being  decreased. 
This  is  suf^cient  to  account  for  the  desire  of  the  French  manufac- 
turers for  a  treaty,  such  as   is  demanded.     The  foregoing  general 


iSg 

statistics  show  also  that  France  does  not  offer  us,  even  with  a 
treaty,  a  profitable  market  for  the  line  of  goods  in  which  she  has 
increased  her  exports,  by  the  aid  of  treaties,  $148,000,000,  against 
an  increase  of  imports  of  $51,000,000. 

Mr.  Chotteau  talks  about  increasing  our  market  in  France  for 
cereals  and  spirits.  Concerning  spirits,  I  will  say  something  here- 
after in  detail.  Concerning  cereals,  it  is  sufficient  to  know  that  the 
French  average  annual  exports  increased  for  the  decade  1867-76, 
to  $24,000,000  from  $7,500,000  for  the  decade  1847-56.  Never- 
theless, Mr.  Chotteau  talks  glibly  about  increasing  our  exports  of 
grain  to  France  to  ec^ual  our  epxorts  to  England. 


How  other  Countries   would  Reap  the  Benefits. 

Having  shown,  in  general  terms,  liow  we  should  suffer  under  a 
treaty,  as  proposed,  in  our  direct  trade  with  France,  let  us  consider 
to  what  extent  other  countries  would  benefit  by  a  general  reduc- 
tion in  our  tariff,  or  by  the  reduction  only  upon  principal  articles 
of  French  production.  For  this  benefit  to  other  countries  we 
should  have  no  additional  advantages. 

France  would  especially  demand  a  low  tariff  on  silk,  woolen, 
and  all  other  textile  fabrics,  wines  and  spirits,  leather  and  metals, 
manufactures  of  them,  sugars,  chemicals  and  fancy  articles. 

The  French  statistics  for  1877  show  a  total  valuation  of 'ex- 
ports of  manufactured  silks  to  tb.e  United  States  (general  com- 
merce) amounting  to  nearly  $22,000,000,  of  which  only  $10,800,- 
000  were  of  French  production  ;  more  than  one-half  of  the  amount 
reaching  us  from  France  should  be  credited  to  other  countries. 
Besides  this  statement  we  should  remember  that  we  imported  silks 
from  other  countries  direct.  Prance  imports  manufactured  silks 
principally  trom  Switzerland,  Germany,  England,  and  Belgium,  and 
silk  partly  prepared  for  the  looms  from  Italy.  This  indirect  trade 
through  France,  as  well  as  the  direct,  would  participate  in  the  bene- 
fits of  the  proposed  treaty,  without  any  concessions  to  us. 

In  leather  manufactures,  b'rance  sends  us  $4,000,000,  of  which 
only  $2,400,000  are  of  brench  origin.  We  import  also  directly 
from  other  countries. 

In  woolen  goods,  we  iiiiported  in  ^^jy,  $26,000,000,  of  which 
only  about  $10,000,000  were  of  brench  production. 


igo 

In  spirits  and  cordials  France  sent  us  $200,000,  out  of  $1,900,- 
000;  in  wines,  $1,700,000  out  of  $4,000,000. 

In  cotton  goods,  we  imported  about  $19,000,000,  of  which 
less  than  $1,000,000  were  of  French  make. 

In  straw,  bark  and  rush  plaitings  or  braids,  the  French  records 
show  that  out  of  $2,350,000  sent  to  us  only  $5,250  were  of  French 
production  ;  also  that  out  of  $1,330,000  in  straw  and  bark  hats, 
only  $141,000  were  of  French  make. 

In  watches,  clocks  and  material,  out  of  $600,000  only  $200,- 
coo  were  of  French  make. 

A  large  portion  of  all  the  paper  goods,  linen  goods,  skins, 
jewelry,  and  machines  were  also  of  extra-French  origin. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  say  that  a  reduction  of  tariff  on  iron 
and  steel  manufactures,  fancy  wares,  chemicals  and  sugars  would 
benefit  other  nations  equally  with  France. 

What,  then,  would  balance  for  us  the  great  gains  we  should 
grant  to  the  whole  world  of  foreign   industries? 

So  far  as  we  stimulated  French  manufactures,  we  should  export 
raw  material  instead  of  manufacturing  it  ourselves,  and  we  might 
also  send  to  France  a  small  percentage  of  such  manufactures  as 
scales  and  carriages,  for  which,  on  account  of  superior  quality,  we 
should  find  a  limited  market,  French  prohibitions  being  removed. 
We  could  not  send  locks,  because  we  should  have  only  the  benefit 
of  "the  most  favored  nation"  clause,  and  all  foreign  locks  are  pro- 
hibited in  France.  We  miofht  send  some  sole  leather  at  the  ex- 
pense  of  receiving  the  light  qualities.  In  other  words,  Southern 
planters.  Western  shepherds  and  other  producers  of  raw  material 
would  be  permitted  to  compete  with  the  world  in  the  French  mar- 
ket for  the  sale  of  as  much  of  their  pfoods  as  the  reduction  of  our 
industries  would  shut  out  of  home  markets  which  they  now  control. 
What  would  our  producers  gain  by  creating  a  market  in  France 
which  they  could  not  control  in  exchange  for  a  market  in  the 
United  States  which  they  do  control  ?  This  question  applies 
equally  to  all  agriculturists.  Their  losses  would  be  measured  by 
the  new  competition  they  would  meet  and  the  costs  of  transpor- 
tation. 

The  agriculturists  should  remember  that  their  home  market  is 
a  thousand  fold  greater  and  more  profitable  than  the  foreign  mar- 
ket, and  that  the  true  principle  of  trade,  especially  among  fellow  cit- 


igi 

izens,  who  mutually  depend  upon  each  other,  is  to  exchange  product 
for  product.  The  agriculturist  is  the  one  most  benefited  by  a  protec- 
tive tariff,  because  he  finds  cities  and  towns  full  of  well-paid  people, 
who  live  generously  and  comfortably  and  consume  the  produce  of 
the  country.  Free  trade  means  simply  bread  and  water,  poor  fare 
and  a  hard  life  for  the  artisan,  and  therefore  a  poor  market  for  the 
farmer. 


English  Objections  to  the  French  Treaty. 

I  have  shown  that  the  treaty  of  commerce  between  France 
and  England,  entered  into  in  i860,  has  been  greatly  to  the  advan- 
tage of  France  generally,  though  it  has  retarded  the  progress  of 
certain  industries,  especially  that  of  cotton.  For  this  latter  reason 
there  is  a  great  outcry  in  France  in  favor  of  abrogating  the  treaty, 
and  without  doubt  the  demands  of  the  cotton  manufacturers  will 
soon  be  satisfied  in  the  drafts  of  the  new  treaties  to  be  nesfotiated 
before  long,  or  by  the  provisions  of  a  general  tariff,  which  may 
take  the  place  of  all  special  treaties,  under  which  the  United  States 
will  have  equal  advantages  with  England  as  France  to-day  has  un- 
der our  tariff  system  in  her  trade  with  us. 

The  secret  of  the  success  of  the  French  under  their  treaties 
is  that  they  always  reserve  a  sufficient  tariff  to  protect  their  indus- 
tries against  the  normal  pressure  of  importations. 

They  suffer  now  only  because  bankrupt  British  and  Belgian 
stocks  of  cotton,  glass  and  other  manufactures,  displaced  from 
their  customary  markets  in  the  United  States,  India  and  other  coun- 
tries, by  rival  industries,  pass  over  the  low  tariff  of  France  secured 
by  treaty,  and  are  sold  for  less  than  cost.  From  this  evil  France 
must  suffer  until  the  equilibrium  of  commerce  and  production  is 
restored  by  the  adjustment  of  British  and  European  industries  in 
accordance  with  the  new  order  of  things  caused  by  the  appearance 
of  the  new  successful  industries  of  the  United  States,  India,  Italy  and 
other  nations  upon  the  field.  We  cannot  afford,  in  this  crisis, 
from  which  we  do  not  suffer,  to  recede  from  our  position  and  to 
assume  part  of  the  evils  of  which  iM'ance  complains.  France  must 
protect  herself,  as  she  is  able  lu  do ;  England  must  curtail  her 
manufactures,  if  she  is  [rroducing  too  much — for  neither  can  expect 
or  hope  that  we  shall  consent  to  retire  again  into  the  conditions  o^ 


1 92 

a  colonial  market  in  order  to  prevent  Europe  from  losing  the  bal- 
ance of  trade  in  her  favor  and  her  much  guarded  and  cherished 
money  centres.  "  Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  its  way." 
so  also  does  the  course  of  trade  and  capital. 

England,  however,  on  the  other  hand,  also  claims  to  be  bene- 
fited and  injured  by  the  treaty  with  France.  She  is  benefited 
because  any  concession  to  her  is  a  gain,  she  having  already  con- 
ceded nearly  everything  through  her  free  trade  system.  She  com- 
plains, however,  that  the  French  tariff  under  the  treaty  does  not 
permit  English  industries  to  compete  on  fair  terms  in  French  mar- 
kets. She  complains  that  she  cannot  sell  a  fair  share  of  her  manu- 
factured goods  in  France.  She  has  the  benefit  of  the  conventional 
tariff  in  France,  which  the  French  manufacturers,  through  Mr. 
Chotteau,  now  offer  to  the  United  States,  provided  we  shall  make 
a  general  reduction  in  ours,  and  provided  the  French  government 
can  be  induced  to  grant  us  this  favor,  which  is  ours  now  by  right 
without  further  concession  on  our  part. 

If  England,  aided  by  cheap  labor,  vast  capital,  long  estab- 
lished industries,  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  French 
markets  and  close  proximity,  finds  the  French  conventional  tariff 
an  obstacle  to  the  introduction  of  her  wares  into  France,  how  much 
more  should  we  find  it  so? 

The  experience  of  England  is  important  to  us,  aiding  us  in 
understanding  what  advantages  it  is  that  Mr.  Chotteau's  friends 
propose  to  us.  The  French  people  have  no  such  problem  to  dis- 
cuss ;  they  know  that  with  our  present  tariff,  as  it  is,  they  succeed  in 
selling  to  us  $33,000,000  worth  of  their  manufactures,  besides  much 
more  that  passes  in  general  commerce  through  the  hands  of  their 
merchants.  They  know  that  low  tariffs  here  would  increase  still 
further  this  vast  importation  and  probably  check  our  competitive 
industries ;  they  know  also  that  they  only  import  now  about  half  a 
million  dollars  of  our  n-ianufactures,  and  that  their  conventional 
tariff,  being  sufficient  to  shut  out  any  large  degree  of  importations 
from  England,  would  equally  operate  to  prevent  a  great  increase 
from  us.  We,  however,  should  know  more  about  the  practical 
value  which  this  conventional  tariff  might  be  to  us  before  we  nego- 
tiate to  purchase  its  advantages. 

I  will  turn,  therefore,  to  consult  an  official  document  of  Great 
Britain,   entitled  "  Papers  Relative  to  French   Industry  and  Com- 


xg3 

merce  ;  presented  to  the  House  of  Commons  by  command  of  Her 
Majesty,  in  pursuance  of  their  Address  dated  June  6,  1878." 

Throughout  all  these  very  important  papers  1  find,  of  course, 
the  spirit  of  free  trade  fairly  presented.  The  British  manufacturer, 
aiming-  to  monopolize  the  manufacturing  business  of  the  world,  can 
ask  for  nothing  less  and  grant  nothing  less.  He  must  find  mar- 
kets ;  hence  he  demands  free  trade  everywhere.  But  I  observe 
throughout,  the  candor  of  che  discussions.  The  demand  for 
an  abolition  of  duties  in  France  is  not  based  upon  doc- 
trines of  brotherly  love  and  friendship  among  nations,  but  upon 
estimates  of  the  power  of  each  nation  to  compete  fairly.  In  nearly 
every  case  where  a  demand  is  made  for  the  abolition  of  duties  in 
France,  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  production  in  each  country  is 
made  and  the  demand  is  based  upon  statements  that  the  cost  is 
less  in  France  than  it  is  in  England,  or,  as  in  some  cases,  not  greater — 
hence  they  say  France  has  no  need  of  protection.  The  principle 
appears  to  be  recognized  that  protection  is  legitimate  where  the 
cost  of  production  in  competing  countries  is  unequal.  On  this 
basis,  we  can  fairly  discuss  tariff  regulations  which  affect  interna- 
tional commerce. 

Here  is  an  abstract  of  the  papers  referred  to  ; 

LINEN. 

In  reply  to  (]uestions  addressed  to  the  Belfast  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  a  paper  is  submitted  concerning  the  French 
conventional  taritf  on  linen  goods,  in  which  is  said  :  "  The  rate  of 
duty,  being  higher  on  low  than  on  fine  yarns,  has  been  practically 
prohibitory.  It  is  only  those  numbers  which  have  been  most 
lightly  taxed  that  have  obtained  access  to  the  FVench  market." 

RIBBON    TRADE. 

On  behalf  of  the  Coventry  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Mr.  Andrews,  deputed  to  represent  the  ribbon  trade,  asked 
that  in  the  new  commercial  treaty  the  duties  now  levied  upon  all 
kinds  of  ribbons  imported  into  France  be  completely  abolished. 
"  He  remarked  that  d  iring  the  last  seventeen  years  England  had 
admitted  all  kinds  of  F>ench  ribbons  without  any  duties  whatever, 
and  that  the  effect  on  the  Coventry  trade  had  been  most  disastrous, 
it  being  now  reduced  to  one-half  of  what  it  was  prior  to  i860, 
whilst,  at  the  same  time,   the  value   of  our  imports  of  foreign  rib- 


194 

bons  liad  been  considerably  more  than  doubled.  It  was,  there- 
fore, self-evident  that  the  French  ribbon  manufacturers  could  not 
possibly  have  anything  to  fear  from  English  competition  ;  and  he 
therefore  asked,  as  a  matter  of  justice  and  common  fairness,  that 
the  duties  on  all  ribbons  going  into  France  should  be  absolutely 
abolished,  and  the  more  especiallv  as  the  present  duties,  although 
small,  were  quite  prohibitory." 

ELASTIC    FABRICS. 

The  deputation  of  the  Derby  Chamber  of  Commerce  "  pointed 
out  to  Mr.  Kennedy  that  the  protection  and  facilities  enjoyed  by 
French  manufacturers  of  elastics,  not  only  of  gusset  webs  for  boots, 
but  also  of  brace  and  garter  webs,  enabled  them  to  expert  these 
goods  to  England  in  successful  competition  to  the  English  manu- 
facturer, who  is  no  longer  able  to  com.jete  in  France,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  anti-reciprocal  and  unjust  duties  levied  upon  English 
elastics." 

LINEN    AND    JUTE    TRADES. 

The  memorandum  of  the  Dundee  Chamber  of  Commerce 
says:  "The  treaty  of  commerce  presently  in  force,  has  been 
of  no  service  to  the  trade  of  this  district;  our  trade  with  France 
is  very  small,  and  not  on  the  increase.  '"'^  "'  "' 
In  conclusion,  this  Chamber  begs  to  state,  that  since  the 
treaty  of  1860  was  established,  the  working  hours  in  this  country 
have  been  reduced  from  sixty  to  fifty-six  per  week,  whereas,  in 
France  they  have  remained  stationary  at  seventy-two;  further,  that 
wages  in  this  country  have  considerably  advanced,  in  some  cases 
nearly  doubled,  whereas  in  France  they  have  not  advanced  to  the 
same  extent,  nor  are  the  French  manufacturers  subject  to  the 
Factory  Act,  etc.;  '^  "'■  ""  "'■'  It  is,  therefore,  obvious,  that  a 
rate  of  duty  which  may  have  been  considered  moderate  in  i860, 
would  now  act  as  a  prohibitive  measure."  Wages  paid  in  Dundee, 
for  spinners,  $3  per  week  of  56  hours. 

SHIP     BROKERAGE. 

The    Gateshead    and   Newcastle    Chambers    protest   because 
ship- brokerage  is  not  free  to  Englishmen  in  France. 


195 

GLASGOW    TRADE COTTONS,    PRLNTTS.    CHEMICAL5,    MINERAL    OIX.?. 

IRON,    ETC. 

The  Glasgow  Chamber  of  Commerce  says:  "The  interval 
which  has  elapsed  has  not  only  coniirmeJ  but  has  deepened  the 
conviction  that  in  paving  the  conditions  of  a  new  commercial 
treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  a  material  reduction  of 
duties  at  the  ports  of  France  will  be  necessary  to  enable  Scotch 
manufacturers  to  carry  on  a  trade  of  any  importance  in  the  export 
of  goods  to  that  country.  The  Chamber  is  also  of  the  opinion 
that  ad  valorem  duties  should  be  maintained,  and,  where  it  is  found 
possible,  extended;  and  that  any  attempt  to  alter  them  into  specific 
duties  must  have  the  effect  of  diminishing  the  trade  between  this 
country  and  France.'  Concerning  cotton  goods,  such  as  gauzes, 
muslins,  etc.,  it  says:  "The  French  duty  of  15  per  cent  ad  valorem, 
being  prohibitory,  no  trade  exists."  Concerning  the  French  con- 
ventional duty  on  pig  iron  it  says:  "  It  thus  appears  that  import 
duties  into  France  are  actually  higher  than  in  any  other  country  in 
Europe."  ^^  '■''  '^  "  The  duty  on  cast-iron  pipes  is  practically 
prohibitive  of  this  importation  into  France,  if  of  large  sizes,  or  in 
any  considerable  quantities.  Only  one  important  contract  has  b^en 
taken  in  this  country,  and  that  immediately  when  the  treaty  was 
made,  and  by  way  of  experiment.  It  resulted  in  serious  loss  to 
the  contractors." 

LEICESTER   TRADES. 

Concerning  woolen  yarns,  the  Leicester  Chamber  says  :  "  A 
very  large  trade  is  done  here  in  Leicester  by  French  spinners  in 
competition  with  our  own  local  producers,  and  also  against  the 
Yorkshire  spinners,  who  largely  supply  this  market.  The  imposs 
tion  of  duties  against  our  yarns  is  a  simple  exclusion  of  the  produc- 
tion of  our  Leicester  spinners  from  the  F>ench  market."  Concern- 
ing hosiery  :  "As  Fran.x'  [)osscsses  cheaper  labor  and  raw  material 
at  least  as  low  priced,  it  is  self-evident  that  all  duties  are  protec- 
tive and  tending  to  prohibition,  not  500/.  per  annum  being  ex- 
ported to  P>ance  from  Leicester  in  the  three  classes  in  question," 
(Nos.  2,  3  and  5).  Concerning  boots  and  shoes,  complaint  is  also 
made  of  the  French  tariff;  the  cost  of  labor  and  leather  is  claimed 
to  be  cheaper  in  PVance. 


ig6 

COTTON     TRADE. 

The  Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce  discourses  upon  the 
relative  proportions  of  manufactured  goods  exported  to  and  re- 
ceived from  England  by  France,  in  very  nearly  the  same  vein  that  I 
had  used  in  speaking  of  our  trade  with  France.  The  Manchester 
people  say  ;  "The  export  to  France  in  1875,  being  27,293,- 
855  /.,  and  the  imports  from  France,  46,720,101  /.,  show  that 
the  sales  of  our  productions  to  France  amount  to  only  fifty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  the  value  we  purchased  from  them."  After  deduct- 
ing raw  materials,  the  amount  of  manufactures  exported  is 
reduced  to  16,000,000/.,  and  leaves  the  manufactures  taken 
from  France  at  45,000,000/.  "  This  calculation,"  they  say, 
"shows  that  we  only  sell  to  them  in  the  proportion  of  thirty-six 
per  cent,  of  the  value  they  sell  to  us,  as  affording  employment  to 
the  people."  Afterwards,  they  say:  "  It  has  always  been  admitted 
that  scarcely  any  department  of  the  treaty  was  so  unsuccessful,  and 
so  unsatisfactory,  as  that  relating  to  woven  cotton  goods." 

IRON    TRADE. 

The  Middleborough  Chamber  says,  concerning  their  products 
of  cast  iron  in  pipes,  bolts,  rivets,  wire,  tubes,  etc.:  "  On  nearly  all 
these  goods  the  duties  into  France  are  prohibitive." 

EARTHENWARE    AND    CHINA. 

The  North  Staffordshire  Chamber  complains  of  the  fifteen  per 
cent,  duty  levied  by  FVance  on  these  wares.  They  say  that  after 
adding  cost  of  packing  and  carriage,  "the  duty  is  fast  becoming 
prohibitive." 

SALT  TRADE. 

Northwich  Salt  Chamber  of  Commerce  :  "The  operation  of 
the  existing  law  in  France  is  entirely  prohibitory  as  regards  the  ad- 
mission of  Enorlish  salt." 

o 

HOSIERY  AND    LACE. 

The  Nottingham  Chamber  complains  of  a  duty  of  one  franc, 
fifty  centimes  per  kilog.  on  hosiery,  which  they  say,  amounts  to  thirty, 
or  thirty  and  a  half  per  cent,  ad  valorem  on  the  cheaper  goods, 
and  becomes  absolutely  prohibitive.  The  same  remark,  they  say, 
applied  to  the  duty  on  lace. 


197 


SHErriELD     TRADES. 


The  Sheffield  Chamber  complains  of  the  present  duty,  and 
still  more  of  the  proposed  increase  under  a  new  treaty.  They 
say  :  "  Under  the  present  circumstances,  the  export  of  table  knives 
to  France  is  even  now  exceedingly  small  ;  but  if  a  specific  duty  of 
three  francs  per  kilog.  were  imposed  upon  common  cutlery,  the 
small  trade  still  carried  on  in  small  table  knives,  would  probably  be 
completely  destroyed.  If  the  French  suggestions  were  adopted, 
the  duty  upon  the  commonest  table  knives  would  be  rai.^ed  from 
fifteen  to  nearly  seventy-five  per  cent." 

NAVIGATION    QUESTIONS. 

The  Southampton  Chamber  complains  of  the  French  surtaxe 
d Entrepot,  an  extra  duty  levied  on  goods  imported  indirectly, 
which  frequently  becomes  necessary,  goods  first  coming,  for  in- 
stance, to  Liverpool  and  then  transhipped  to  France.  Also,  of  the 
dock  charges  of  half  a  franc  per  ton  on  all  ships  coming  from  Eu- 
ropean ports  and  the  excessive  charge  of  one  franc  for  all  coming 
from  other  parts  of  the  world.  Also  of  the  French  monopoly  of 
brokerage,  an  English  ship-master,  not  speaking  French,  being 
compelled  to  pay  to  a  broker  \  franc  per  ton  to  have  his  ship 
registered. 

WOOLEN    AND    WORSTED    TRADE. 

The  Yorkshire  chambers  show,  that  the  French  manufacturers 
possess  advantages  in  cheap  labor  and  material  that  should  cause 
them  to  reduce  their  tariff,  and  demonstrate  their  position  in  de- 
tail. They  call  attention  to  the  small  quantity  of  woolen  goods 
imported  by  France  in  comparison  with  the  vast  quantity  exported. 
They  oppose  specific  duties  applied  to  woolen  goods.  In  conclu- 
sion, they  base  their  demands  for  the  abolition  of  all  duties  in 
France  upon  pure  woolen  tissues  upon  the  same  ground  that  siikgoods 
are  admitted  free  to  that  country,  viz.  ;  ''That  their  mamtfacture 
has  been  brought  to  such  a  perfection  there  tJiat  foreign  competition 
may  be  considered  as  7iearly  impossible."  This  is  one  of  the  candid 
arguments  to  which  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  those  who  fail 
to  see  that  the  same  demand  for  a  reduction  of  tariff  in  this  coun- 
try does  not  properly  apply  as  it  does  to  France,  our  industries  not 
yet  being  all  established  beyond  danger  of  competition  in  our  home 
markets. 


ig8 

.\  G R I C U LTU R A 1 .    MAC H I N E R Y . 

The  French  conventional  tariff  is  shown  to  be  much  higher 
than  that  of  any  other  European  country  except  Austria. 

IRON    TRADE. 

The  British  Iron  Trade  Association  presented  an  elaborate 
paper.  Among  other  things  they  give  a  table  showing  the  actual 
value  of  iron  goods  and  the  percentage  of  duty  that  the  French 
specific  taxes  amount  to,  resulting  as  follows  :  Pig  iron,  2S  per 
cent.  ;  rails,  38  per  cent.  ;  bars,  29  per  cent. ;  plates  for  boilers 
and  ships,  35  per  cent.  The  duties  on  ordinary  castings,  30  per 
cent.  These  duties,  they  declare,  are  prohibitive.  They  complain, 
also,  of  the  system  of  favoring  FVench  exporters  with  acquits cl 
caution,  of  which  system  more  will  be  said.  The  same  complaints 
are  made  of  duties  on  steel. 

PAPER. 

A  vigorous  complaint  is  made  against  the  French  duty  on 
paper.     Attention  is  called  to  the  export  duties  on  rags. 

FANCY    BISCUITS. 

The  same  complaint,  tariff  being  practically  prohibitive. 

PLATE    GLASS. 

Complaints  because  English  products  are  taxed  and  kept  out 
by  France,  while  French  products  find  a  free  market  and  ready 
sale  in  England. 

EXPENSES    OF    MANUFACTURING     IN    FRANCE. 

Delegates  appointed  to  visit  manufacturing  districts  in  France 
reported  upon  capital,  rent,  power,  machinery,  materials,  labor, 
clas.-es  of  goods  manufactured  and  markets,  and  taxation,  etc. 
They  report  that  the  aggregate  of  expenses  show  advantages  in 
favor  of  French  producers  over  the  English.  One  of  the  reasons 
shown  why  French  workmen  can  work  for  less  than  the  English 
and  save  money  is  because  the  consumption  by  the  English  work- 
man of  bacon  and  hams,  cheese,  butter,  eggs,  [jotatoes,  spirits, 
wines  and  tea  has  increased  largely  per  capita  since  i860.  For 
instance,  bacon  and  hams  from  1.27  pounds  in  1860  to  8.20  pounds 
in  1875  ;  eggs,  from  5.83  to  22.62  ;  tea,  from  i.(^.-j  to  4.44.  Tills, 
which  is  a  serious  argument  against  the  workingmen  in  England, 


igg 

because  thereby  the  imports  from  the  United  States  are  increased. 
is  the  kind  of  argument  I  like  to  present  to  our  farmers  in  favor  of 
sustaining  well-fed  workingmen  at  home,  instead  of  poorly-fed 
men  in  Enjrland,  to  whom  the  manufacturer  be^rudcres  an  increased 
habit  of  consuming  good  food,  because  it  prevents  competition 
with  France. 

The  wages  of  operatives  in  France  are  shown  to  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  trade  ;  in  woolen  factories  women  and  girls  from  s  i  ^o 
to  $2  50  per  week  ;  men,  from  $3  to  <55,  excepting  for  specially 
expert  hands,  who  get  $9.  In  other  trades  the  proportions  are 
similar.  The  prices  are  shown  to  be  from  fifty  to  ninety  per  cent, 
higher  in  Enorland. 

o  o 

The  cost  of  the  blue  linen  working  suit  of  the  French  artisan 
is  given  at  $1   50. 

ACQUITS    A    CAUTION. 

Complaint  is  made  by  the  British  because  the  French  laws 
give  the  French  iron  manufacturer  in  the  south  of  France  a  special 
permit  to  import  free  of  duty  an  amount  of  pig  iron  equal  to  the 
quantity  in  the  articles  he  exports. 

The  effect  of  this  is  to  grant  a  subsidy  to  the  exporter,  who 
uses  iron  of  his  neighborhood  and  sells  his  permits  to  be  used  in 
the  other  parts  of  France,  which  are  dependent  upon  imports. 
This  is  one  of  the  methods  France  uses  to  stimulate  exportation. 

A  similar  complaint  is  made  against  a  law  affecting  exporta- 
tions  of  refined  sugars,  by  which  the  exports  obtain  an  excessive 
drawback  from  the  government. 

CLASSES    OF    GOODS    MANUFACTURED. 

In  one  of  the  reports  I  find  a  passage  corroborating  what  I 
have  said  about  France  as  a  poor  market  for  manufactured  goods: 

"Speaking  generally,  the  P>ench  manufacturers  have  hitherto 
given  their  attention  chiefly  to  better  goods,  whose  excellence  of 
workmanship  is  of  more  importance  than  low  prices.  This  is,  in  a 
great  measure,  owing  to  the  universal  use  of  the  linen  blouse  by 
every  grade  of  workingmen." 

HOURS    OF    LABOR. 

The  British  manufacturers  are  restricted  by  law  to  fifty-six 
hours  per  week  for  workmen  ;  the  French  work  their  men  seventy- 


200 

two  hours — or  twelve  hours  per  day.  And  yet  the  cutlers  and 
forgers  at  Theirs  receive  only  from  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per  day. 
"Thiers  has  an  air  of  extreme  penury."  say  the  English  delegates, 
"which  may  be  attributed  to  the  low  wages  paid  to  the  men." 
This  is  the  kind  of  a  market  France  would  offer  us.  These  are 
the  wages  and  conditions  of  life  to  w'.iich  free  traders  would  force 
our  manufacturers  to  reduce  our  people.  How  much  would  our 
agriculturists  profit  by  the  cha-  ge  ? 

I  will  not  attempt  any  further  extracts  from  these  valuable 
British  reports.  Enough  has  been  shown  to  establish  the  fact  that 
the  French  conventional  tariff  is  of  comparatively  little  value  to 
British  trade ;  if  the  English  cannot  export  to  France  with  advan- 
tage, then,  what  may  we  hope  for,  if  we  accept  the  terms  of  the 
proposed  treaty  and  accept  the  situation  of  England  ?  I  will  con- 
clude this  subject  with  one  passage  from  one  of  the  reports  :  "In 
the  year  1875  the  value  of  wine,  kid  gloves  and  silk^  imported 
from  France  into  England  was  14,553,152/.,  whereas  the  value  of 
all  British  produce  exported  to  France,  excluding  coal,  was  13,- 
740,000/..  and  including  coal,  15,357,000/.  But  even  these  figures 
fail  adequately  to  show  how  unfairly  the  present  French  customs 
duties  act  upon  English  manufacturers  and  workmen." 


False  Theories  and   the  Workman's  Welfare. 

It  is  time  that  \vc  should  honestly  talk  about  our  own  taritt 
system.  It  is  customary  for  the  French  and  English,  and  our  o^vn 
"free  traders,"  to  say  that  our  tariff  is  prohibitory.  This  is  false. 
I  have  shown  that  we  import  $33,000,000  in  French  manufactured 
dutiable  goods.  So  far  as  England  is  concerned,  we  afford  a  bet- 
ter market  with  our  high  tariff  than  France  does  with  her  treaty  of 
i860.  England  exports  to  us,  of  IVitish  productions,  16,376,814/. 
(about  $80,000,000),  and  exports  to  France  only  14,233,242/. 
(about  $70,000,000) ;  that  is,  our  so  called  high  tariff  is  worth  more 
to  England  than  the  French  so  called  free  trade.  Why  is  this  ? 
Simply  because  our  people  are  protected,  well  paid  and  large  con- 
sumers. Shall  we  reduce  them  to  the  condition  of  non-consuming 
communities  of  France  ? 

Neither  France  nor  Great  Britlan  can  fairly  complain  of  our 
tariif,  which  protects  so  good  a  market  for  them,  even  though  they 
begin  to  enjoy  itb  profits  less. 


201 

Wc  have  a  right  to  complain  of  the  prohibitions  of  the  French 
tariff  to  which  we  are  subjected,  while  we  prohibit  nothing  from ' 
France,  and  do  not  discriminate  against  her  as  she  does  against  us. 
If  we  cannot  induce  her  to  remove  those  prohibitions  without  fur- 
ther concessions  from  us,  we  may  easily  show  her  that  wc  can  do  with- 
out her  goods  by  raising  our  tariff  on  them  until  it  becomes  pro- 
hibitive. Our  people  would  not  suffer.  We  may  well  consider 
the  matter  of  putting  an  export  tax  on  crude  petroleum,  because 
all  other  nations,  except  France,  take  our  refined  oils,  while  France 
takes  little  besides  the  crude  oil  to  supply  her  own  refineries.  We 
could  shut  up  those  refineries  if  we  would. 

But  even  if  we  do  not  get  these  prohibitions  removed  we  shall 
not  mourn.  This  country  is  only  in  a  small  degree  supported  by 
foreign  trade.  We  actually  need  very  little  of  it.  Wc  arc  not 
situated  as  England  is.  Circumstances  alter  public  policies.  Wc 
are  almost  self-sufficient,  and  can  afford  to  be  independent  of  inter- 
national treaties,  which  may  serve  only  to  complicate  the  develop- 
ment of  our  resources.  Our  domestic  trade  must  never  be  sacri- 
ficed to  the  foreign  trade.  Wc  must  never  scrape  our  twenty- 
dollar  gold  pieces  to  gild  our  copper  cents. 

This  is  not  essentially  a  question  of  free  trade  to-day.  France 
only  asks  that  she  may  tie  us  to  a  treaty  with  her.  But  I  should 
not  be  afraid  to  meet  the  free  traders  squarely  before  our  working 
people.  The  free  traders  would  force  our  people  to  the  level  of 
foreign  competitors — bread  and  water,  poor  fare,  squalid  living, 
comfortless  homes,  scattered  families,  laboring  wives  and  daughters, 
and  no  markets  for  our  own  farmers — that  is  what  it  means.  Pro- 
tection means  that  we  increase  the  consumers  of  the  country  and 
make  markets  for  our  business  men.  Protection  does  not  mean 
fortune  for  the  manufacturer ;  but  comfort  for  the  workman.  It  is 
the  masses  who  profit  by  protection. 

In  this  state,  protection  means  that  we  shall  not  be  forced  to 
perpetuate  Chinese  labor  in  our  industries. 

Such  schemes  as  this  of  Mr.  Chotteau  would  certainly  check 
our  industries ;  they  might  not  survive;  but  if  they  did,  it  would  be 
after  troublesome  labor  fights.  Labor  would  finally  succumb,  or 
repudiate  the  treaties.  Then  our  industries  would  go  on.  If  labor 
succumbs,  the  end  of  free  institutions  has  come,  and  we  shall  need 
an  army  to  control  the  people. 


202 

The  wine  and  other  industries  on  this  Coast  might  go  on,  but 
they  would  all  demand  Chinese  labor  to  save  themselves.  The 
workinfT-mcn  will  see  the  true  bearing  of  these  questions,  and  vote 
rieht  when  occasion  demands. 

It  is  false  that  protection  greatly  increases  the  prices  of  com- 
modities. When  our  industries  develop,  prices  may  have  a  little 
higher  level,  owing  to  the  general  distribution  of  property  caused 
by  higher  wages ;  but  our  experience  shows  that  labor  protected 
here,  as  in  France,  soon  becornes  forcible.  It  is  not  subject  to 
epidemics  of  foreign  trade.  The  protected  countries  build  up  the 
surest  and  best  foreign  commerce.  The  volume  may  not  be  so 
large,  but  the  profits  are  greater. 

Protection  secures  abundant  supplies  at  home,  where  the 
losses,  if  any.  are  distributed  among  those  who  benefit  by  the  same. 

Protection,  in  fine,  ensures  between  people  of  the  same  country 
free  and  fair  exchanges — product  for  product.  We  sell  our  wines 
in  New  Jersey,  and  we  take  New  Jersey  silks  for  them  The 
farmer  who  sells  his  goods  in  San  Francisco  and  prefers  to  buy  his 
supplies  in  Paris  is  unjust  to  his  fellow-citizen.  Protection  ensures 
sound  domestic  commerce. 


The  Special  Questions  of  Wines  and  Spirits. 

I  have  left  to  the  last  the  discussion  of  the  interests  of  our 
vine  growers.  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  them  at  length.  Our  people 
are  already  well  acquainted  with  the  importance  of  this  industry. 
Our  wine  producers  have  begun  to  emerge  permanently  from  the 
experimental  era.     They  are  now  recognized  by  the  whole  world. 

PVance,  during  generations,  has  not  been  able  to  educate  our 
people  to  the  use  of  more  than  about  two  and  a  half  million  gallons  of 
her  wine  annually.  P^rance,  Spain,  Portugal,  Germany,  all  the  Euro- 
pean vine  growers,  have  been  able  to  teach  the  use  of  not  more  than 
four  to  five  million  gallons.  A  few  years  ago,  wine,  to  the  Ameri- 
can consumer,  was  a  costly  article  covered  with  glittering  labels. 
I  need  not  explain  now  what  has  been  so  thoroughly  shown  to  the 
l^ublic  before,  that  these  wines  have  always  been,  with  rare  excep- 
tions, cheap  adulterations,  or  falsely-labeled  compounds  of  very 
cheap  stuff,  called  by  the  foreigners  "  cargo  wines,"  or  "  rubbish." 
What  made  them  costly  to  the  consumer?     Simply  the  deceits  of 


203 

the  foreign  trade,  the  cupidity  of  rc'ailcrs  and  their  scarcity  in  our 
markets.     The  tariff  was  only  a  small  element  in  the  price. 

Wines  are  now  cheap  to  the  people  and  becoming  cheaper. 
What  makes  them  cheap  ?  Simply  the  abundance  of  pure  wine 
produced  by  our  own  people.  California  wines,  pure  and  whole 
some,  are  sent  east  by  the  thousands  of  pipes,  ranging  generally 
in  price  according  to  quality,  at  from  forty  to  seventy  cents  per  gallon. 
Wine  is  sold  in  German  saloons  in  New  York  for  five  cents  a 
glass.  Wine  is  furnished  for  my  table  in  Oakland,  bottled  and 
corked,  bottles  to  be  returned,  at  fifty  cents  a  gallon — ten  cents  a 
bottle,  five  cents  a  pint  bottle.  California,  Ohio,  New  York  and 
Missouri  wines  arc  dissipating  the  superstitions  about  false  labels 
and  high  prices.  Pure  natural  wine  is  driving  drugged  French, 
Dutch,  German,  Portugeese  and  Spanish  compounds  from  the  mar- 
ket, and  thereby  serving  the  public  health. 

The  duty  of  forty  cents  per  gallon  on  foreign  wines  has  not 
oppressed  the  consumer,  only  eight  cents  a  bottle,  four  cents  a  pint — 
small  parts  of  the  cost.  The  people  have  reaped  the  benefit  of 
the  dut}-  in  the  public  revenues  ;  and  the  consumer  of  wines  has 
been  benefited  by  the  abundance  of  pure  natural  wine,  which  has 
been  produced  under  the  shelter  of  a  moderate  revenue  tax. 

The  French  wine  growers  have  taught  over  forty  millions  of 
our  people  to  use,  in  place  of  bad  whisky,  only  about  two  and  a  half 
million  gallons  of  wine  annually.  The  California  wine  growers  have 
seen  their  products  appreciated  rapidly,  until  now  more  than  two  and 
a  half  million  gallons  are  consumed  in  this  State  alone  by  less  than 
one  million  people,  and  they  now  ship  more  wines  to  the  Atlantic 
States  than  are  imported  into  the  whole  country  from  France.  The 
moderate  revenue  tax  has  enabled  our  wine  growers  to  suffer  the 
preliminary  losses  incident  upon  experimenting  in  vines,  soils  and 
fermentation,  and  has  made  wine  a  cheap  luxury  to  the  whole  peo- 
ple. Now,  there  are  consumed  in  the  United  States,  about  fifteen 
million  gallons  of  native  wines  against  four  and  a  half  millions  (jf 
foreign.  ( )f  course,  we  know  that  colonial  prejudices  still  cling  to 
our  people  in  many  cases  and  that  most  of  our  wines  arc  bought 
by  those  who  pretend  to  sell  foreign  goods  only.  This  is  onl)-  the; 
lault  ot  the  consumer,  who  could  change  the  situation  more  rapidl) 
by  demanding  his  beverage  under  a  true  label. 


204 

So  much  for  all  the  nonsense  about  high  tariffs  and  high  prices. 
If  it  were  not  for  our  vine  growers,  wine  would  not  be  cheap  to- 
day. 

But  our  people  do  not  stand  in  need  of  any  protection  against 
the  pure  wines  of  other  countries.  The  present  tariff,  low  as  it  is 
for  revenue  purposes,  operates  only  to  shut  out  a  part  of  the  com- 
petition of  the  drugged,  colored,  flavored  and  imitated  wines  of  Eu- 
rope. Our  wine  growers  ask  for  no  protection  against  pure,  natu- 
ral, undoctored  wine  ;  they  ask  for  no  increase  of  tariffs.  They 
consented  to  the  great  reduction  of  tariff  made  in  1873  in  fine 
wines.  They  are  content  that  for  the  present  the  government 
does  not  levy  an  internal  revenue  tax  upon  their  simple  wines — this 
is  the  full  extent  of  the  actual  protection  they  now  receive,  beyond 
the  bar  which  the  revenue  tariff  places  to  check  the  vile  com- 
petition with  unwholesome  compounds. 

I  say  now,  with  full  assurance  that  I  shall  be  supported  by  our 
vine  growers — if  the  government  will  continue  to  foster  this  great 
industry  for  a  few  years  more,  by  freeing  it  from  domestic  taxes, 
they  will  soon  offnr  to  the  public  for  revenue  purposes  an  annual 
production  of  100,000,000  gallons.  Then  they  will  agree  to  aid 
the  nation  by  increasing  its  revenues  directly. 

The  question  of  reducing  the  tariff  on  wines  appeals  more  di- 
rectly to  the  public  treasury  and  those  who  have  a  regard  for  the 
public  health  than  it  does  to  our  State,  although  for  the  present 
our  producers  earnestly  desire  that  no  reduction  should  be  made. 
They  have  already  demonstrated,  by  their  great  successes  in  vine 
culture,  that  their  industry  needs  only  to  be  fostered  a  very  little 
to  ensure  a  vast  income  and  revenue  producing  occupation  for  our 
people  in  the  near  future.  The  wine  drinker  is  on  the  side  of  this 
moderately  protective  and  revenue  tariff — it  makes  wine  abundant 
and  cheap,  and  protects  him  against  the  foreign  chemist. 

France,  with  less  area  than  California  possesses  suitable  for  vini- 
culture, produced  during  the  ten  years  ending  1877,  an  annual  aver- 
age of  one  billion  four  himdred  million  gallons  of  wine  ;  her  vine- 
yards were  owned  by  more  than  two  million  proprietors,  large  and 
small  owners.  This  industry  supports  large  cities  like  Bordeaux,  and 
large  sections  of  cities  like  Bercy,  in  Paris.  Many  industries  are  as- 
sociated with  and  supported  by  it — notably  glass  works,  cooper  and 
wagon  shops.  Ships  and  railroads  are  employed,  houses  are  sold  and 


205 

rented,  and  real  estate  becomes  valuable.  California  vine  growers, 
if  not  interfered  with,  will,  by  their  sole  industry,  support  a  popula- 
tion on  this  bay,  within  another  generation,  as  great  as  that  of  the 
present  San  Francisco.  Already  they  give  employment  to  ten 
thousand  persons. 

California  wines  to-day  average  higher  in  quality  than  the 
average  productions  of  France.  French  excellencies  in  wine,  such 
as  they  are,  are  generally  the  product  of  manipulation,  as  Mr. 
Chotteau  admitted  the  other  day,  when  he  told  an  interviewer  that 
we  might  send  our  pure  wines  to  France  and  there  good  wine 
would  be  made  out  of  them.  The  product  of  the  high  classed 
wines  in  the  Bordeaux  district  is  only  about  1,500,000  gallons  an- 
nually. For  the  home  consumption  in  France,  they  do  not,  to  a 
great  degree,  attempt  to  extinguish  the  naturalness  of  pure  wines — 
they  blend  only  to  disguise  poor  white  wines,  color  to  cover  the 
deceit,  alcoholize  to  cover  the  water,  and  flavor  to  cover  defects  of 
poor  mixtures ;  but  for  the  foreign  market  they  aim,  in  their  vin  dc 
cargaison,  to  produce  an  article  that  can  everywhere,  when  once 
introduced,  compete  against  pure  natural  wine  by  reason  of  being 
so  little  like  it.  More  than  half  of  all  the  objections  to  our  native 
wines  are  made  because  our  wines  are  pure  and  surprise  the  palates 
of  people  who  have  been  drinking  only  doctored  liquids.  It  is 
against  this  falsely  educated  taste  and  demand  for  false  wines  that 
our  people  ask  to  be  protected  for  a  few  years  more ;  then  we 
shall  ask  nothing  except  that  we  shall  not  be  too  heavily  taxed  on 
our  native  productions  for  internal  revenue  purposes,  because  we 
desire  that  the  American  people  may  have  an  abundance  of  pure, 
cheap  food  and  drink  in  the  rich  offerings  of  our  vines. 

Moreover,  it  has  been  shown  by  the  Finance  Committee  of 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  that  the  producers  of  a  very  large 
class  of  foreign  wines  have  a  discrimination  in  their  favor  under 
our  present  laws.  I  refer  to  fortified  wines,  such  as  sherries,  ports, 
madeiras,  etc.  At  least  two  million  gallons  out  of  the  four  and  a 
half  millions  imported  a  )'ear  ago  contained  an  amount  of  added 
spirits  equal  to  one-fifth  tlicir  volume,  or  about  four  hundred  thou- 
sand gallons.  These  spirits  are  added  in  foreign  ports  free  of  all 
taxation  and  our  tariff  admits  the  wines  containing  them  without 
any  extra  tax.  Our  own  producers  arc  obliged  to  pay  an  internal 
revenue  tax  of  ninety  cents  per  proof  gallon  of  spirits,  when  pre- 


2o6 

paring  such  wines.  In  this  respect,  thc)-  certainly  do  demand  pro- 
tection, or,  rather,  equal  privileges  with  foreign  producers.  Nearly, 
or  quite  one-half  of  the  foreign  wines  imported,  instead  of  meriting 
a  reduced  tariff,  require  the  application  of  the  same  system  that  is 
applied  in  r>ance,  viz.:  taxation  for  each  degree  of  spirits  in  excess 
of  the  natural  strength  of  wine.  England  more  than  doubles  the 
tariff  for  this  class  of  wines.  It  is,  therefore,  certain  that  foreien 
wine  producers  have  no  cause  to  complain  of  our  tariff. 

The  business  of  making  imitation  wines  has  been  encouraged 
to  so  great  an  extent  in  France  that  towns,  like  Cette,  have  grown 
in  twenty  years  from  ten  to  forty  thousand  inhabitants.  Do  you 
know  that  we  imported  last  year  246,000  gallons  and  12,000  dozen 
bottles  of  wine  from  Holland  ?  If  Holland,  where  no  grapes 
grow,  can  export  wine,  why  cannot  Maine  and  Alaska  ? 

The  French  wine  industry  has  no  merit  whatever  in  any  de- 
mand for  increased  facilities  for  new  markets.  Notwithstanding-  the 
vast  production  of  her  vineyards,  she  is  now  unable  to  supply  her 
own  home  market  without  importing  the  crude  red  wines  of  Spain, 
Portugal  and  Italy,  which  are  worked  over  in  France  and  sold  to 
consumers  before  they  are  a  year  old.  Her  home  consumption  is 
increasing,  production  decreasing  rapidly  on  account  of  the  steady 
ravages  of  the  phylloxera  among  her  vines,  and,  though  importa- 
tions have  rapidly  increased  to  supply  deficiencies,  her  exportations 
have  sensibly  diminished.  It  is  only  the  manipulators  of  cargo  and 
imitation  alcoholized  wines  who  demand  a  greater  market.  I  know 
that  this  is  true,  because  within  the  past  year  I  have  conversed  in 
France  with  the  most  reputable  French  dealers,  and  they  are  either 
quite  indifferent  to  the  proposed  reduction  of  wine  tariff  with  us, 
or  earnestly  denounce  it.  I  received  a  letter  not  long  ago  from  a 
distinguished  wine  merchant  of  Bordeaux,  who  had  read  letters  of 
mine  describing  the  methods  of  preparing  cargo  wines  in  France. 
He  heartily  concurs  in  what  I  wrote,  saying  he  entirely  agreed  with 
me.  This  gentleman  has  a  representative  in  this  Chamber  of 
Commerce.  His  opinion  was  that  the  only  effect  of  thc  proposed 
reduction  of  our  tariff  would  be  to  cause  foreign  imitations  and 
adulterations  to  run  pure  native  and  foreign  wines  out  of  our  market. 
These  criticisms  are  still  more  applicable  to  French  brandies. 
The  increased  demand  for  wine  for  home  consumption  has  reduced 
the  production  of  brandy  to  less  than  one- third  its  amount  of  ten 


207 

or  fifteen  years  ago.  This  reduction  still  continues,  and  is  acceller- 
ated  by  the  ravages  of  the  phylloxera  in  the  Cognac  districts. 
Pure  brandy  is  getting  to  be  rare  in  French  commerce.  Neverthe- 
less, the  city  of  Cognac  annually  sends  out  three  times  as  much 
so-called  cognac  as  the  whole  district  tributary  to  it  produces  of 
pure  brandy.  The  amount  is  made  up  by  using  principally  spirits 
distilled  from  beet  roots,  a  class  of  spirits  like  corn  or  potato  spirits, 
but  ranked  by  the  highest  scientific  authorities  in  France  as  more 
injurious  to  the  health  than  those  from  corn,  and  only  less  than 
those  from  potato.  Great  quantities  of  German  potato  and  Amer- 
ican corn  spirits  are  prepared  in  the  bonded  warehouses  of  France 
for  exportation  as  cognacs.  The  flavors  are  produced  by  com- 
pounding. 

The  producers  of  genuine  cognacs  do  not  ask  for  any  reduc- 
tion in  our  tariff  on  spirits.  Mr.  Felix  Curlier,  of  the  celebrated 
house  of  Curlier  Freres,  proprietors  of  Courvoisier  brandies,  ex- 
pressly authorized  me  to  say,  in  his  name,  that  he  was  not  only  not 
in  favor  of  this  proposed  reduction  of  our  tariff,  but  was  even  in 
favor  of  an  increase,  hoping  thereby  to  keep  the  spurious  brands 
out  of  our  market. 

The  manipulators  and  compounders  of  spirits  prepared 
expressly  to  deceive  the  public,  are  interested  in  reducing  the  tarifT 
to  near  the  amount  of  the  internal  revenue  tax  on  spirits,  so  that 
they  may  use  in  Bordeaux,  Marseilles  and  other  ports,  cheap 
American  and  German  alcohols,  which,  when  exported,  pay  no  taxeS) 
and  are  sold  in  France  for  about  $  1 6  per  barrel  of  spirits  distilled  to 
1 80  degrees,  converting  the  same  into  compounds  called  cognacs, 
and  exporting  them  to  our  country.  In  this  way  they  expect  to 
make  money  by  deceiving  our  consumers  by  their  vile  art.  There 
is,  therefore,  no  merit  in  the  French  demand  for  a  reduction  of  our 
tariff  on  spirits.  The  demand  for  fine  brandy  is  now  greater  than 
the  supply. 

The  scheme  proposed  by  the  association  represented  by  Mr. 
Chotteau,  calls  for  a  reduction  of  wine  duties  from  forty  cents  a 
gallon,  in  wood,  to  twenty  conts;  $1.60  in  glass,  per  case,  to  fifty 
cents;  and  the  spirit  duties  from  $2  to  $1  per  proof  gallon. 

These  French  gentlemen  have  the  assurance  to  demand  that 
we  shall  reduce  the  import  tax  on  wines  to  less  than  the  internal 
revenue  taxes   in   France    upon  thq  same,      The  taxes  imposed 


2o8 

upon  wine  in  wood  at  the  gates  of  Paris  arc  23.87  francs  per  hec- 
tolitre, or  about  20  cents  per  gallon,  the  same  as  demanded  of  us; 
but  the  French  tax  in  Paris  upon  wine  in  glass  is  50  francs  per  hec- 
tolitre, or  double  what  they  ask  us  to  place  upon  the  same  wines 
in  our  country.  In  the  case  of  California  wines  entering  Paris,  we 
should  have  to  pay  the  internal  tax,  in  addition  to  the  tax  upon  en- 
tering the  country.  These  facts  show  that  for  revenue  purposes 
our  Government  does  not  impose  a  heavy  tax  on  French  wines, 
even  judging  from  a  French  standpoint.  However,  if  we  choose 
to  discriminate  a  little  against  articles  of  luxury  in  our  methods  of 
taxation,  the  French  have  no  cause  to  complain,  so  long  as  we  tax 
Holland  compounds,  called  wine,  at  the  same  rates  that  we  tax 
French  compounds. 

For  a  similar  and  better  reason  that  the  internal  tax  upon  en- 
tering Paris  is  greater  upon  wine  in  bottle  than  upon  wine  in  cask, 
so  our  people  will  insist  upon  a  heavier  duty  upon  cased  wine. 
Parisian  jobbers,  bottle  makers  and  packers  are  protected  not  only 
against  foreign  competitors,  but  also  against  all  in  France  outside 
of  Paris.  The  same  system  prevails  in  all  French  cities.  In  the 
United  States,  protection  in  this  matter,  which  is  purely  industrial 
and  does  not  materially  affect  prices,  extends  no  farther  than  the 
port  of  entr)-  against  the  outside  world.  When  in  Bordeaux,  an 
examination  of  invoices  in  the  Consular  office  demonstrated  to  me  the 
fact  that  nine-tenths  of  all  the  wines  shipped  to  the  United  States 
cost  only  from  30  to  3_^  cents  per  gallon,  regardless  of  fie  itious 
labels  and  brands.  So  far  as  this  class  of  wines  is  concerned,  bot- 
tling in  France  would  only  increase  the  opportunities  for  deceptions ; 
so  far  as  fine  wines  are  concerned,  the  producers  and  our  consum- 
ers are  protected  by  the  present  law,  which  makes  it  unprofitable 
to  send  much  poor  stuff  in  bottle.  The  interest  of  Bordeaux  in 
this  matter  may  be  quickly  stated  The  average  cost  of  their  bot* 
tling,  labeling  and  casing  is  40  cents  a  gallon  for  quarts  and  60  cents 
for  pints.  This  cost,  if  all  retained  in  Bordeaux,  would  more  than 
double  the  present  revenues  from  the  wine  industries  in  the  inter- 
est of  their  glass  works  and  other  industries  affected.  We  should 
lose  that  much  profit  to  our  own  industries,  without  any  compensa- 
ting gains. 

France  cannot,  therefore,  expect  us  to  reduce  the  tariffs  in  any 
of  these  particulars  ;  she  cannot   ask   us   fairly   to   do  for  French 


aog 

wines  and  spirits  what  she  docs  not  and  would  not  propose  to  do 
for  ours.  Our  tariff  is  rrioderate  now,  and  only  needs  amending 
so  as  to  tax  fairly  the  wines  containing  spirits  which  now  escape 
taxation  upon  their  entry  here. 

A  few  words  now  concerning  our  exports  of  spirits  and  I  shall 
conclude.  Mr.  Chotteau  has  held  out  the  hope  to  the  producers 
of  American  corn  spirits  that  by  obtaining  the  conventional  tariff 
of  fifteen  francs  per  hectolitre,  instead  of  thirty  francs,  as  at  pres- 
ent, they  might  increase  their  exports  to  France.  This  needs 
response,  because  it  appears  plausible.  There  is  now  a  large  ex- 
portation of  American  alcohol  to  France,  and  many  of  our  pro- 
ducers even  think  that  the  French  people  use  it.  The  truth  is  that 
it  is  all  re-exported,  and  even  if  there  were  a  lower  tariff,  it  would 
be  the  same.  Foreign  alcohol,  as  well  as  wines,  must  pay  the 
internal  taxes  as  well  as  the  duty.  France  produces  more  beet- 
root spirits  than  she  requires  for  consumption.  She  exports  largely, 
and  only  requires  foreign  alcohol  to  swell  the  volume  of  her 
exports.  All  foreign  alcohols  are  prohibited  by  special  law  from 
being  mixed  with  French  wines  for  French  consumption,  though 
they  are  freely  used  without  taxing  when  exported.  Hence  it 
matters  nothing  whether  the  tariff  be  high  or  low,  for  it  is  never 
collected  on  our  exports.  We  really  export  to  France  only  as  a 
way  port,  our  consumers  being  principally  in  other  parts  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  African  coasts.  Our  producers  would  do  well 
to  take  this  business  directly  into  their  own  hands  and  so  compete 
more  directly  with  their  real  competitor,  Germany,  for  this  trade. 
If  they  suffer  the  tariff  to  be  reduced  here  to  one  dollar,  they  will 
find  that  they  will  be  bringing  German  potato  spirits  under  dis- 
guise into  this  market — the  German  spirits  are  more  injurious  than 
our  own,  but  can  easily  be  manipulated  in  France,  Germany  and 
Holland  into  deceptive  compounds. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter,  addressed  to  me  by 
the  Vice  Consul  of  tlie  United  States,  Mr.  J.  S.  Martin,  Jr.,  dated 
Marseilles,  February  13th,  i^yg  : 

"  I  have  made  careful  inquiries  concerning  the  two  points  to 
which  you  have  called  my  attention,  and  can  now  answer  v/ith  the 
utmost  confidence  : 

"  I  St.  That  the  actual  strength  of  American  alcohol  (imported 
here)  is  from  94  deg.  to  95  deg.,  centigrade — that  is  to  say,  94  to 


2IO 

95  per  cent,  of  pure  alcohol,  although  merchants  here  will  only 
guarantee  it  to  be  from  92  deg.  to  93  deg.,  in  order  to  avoid  diffi- 
culty by  any  possible  over-rating. 

"  2d.  All  the  American  alcohol  that  is  imported  here  is  re-ex- 
ported again  to  the  following  markets  : 

"  First.  And  mostly  to  the  African  coast,  especially  to  Senegal, 
Goree,  Mozambique,  etc.,  etc.,  with  a  sufficient  addition  of  water  to 
impress  the  negroes  that  they  are  drinking  the  actual  fine  cham- 
pag?ic  of  civilized  white  men  ; 

"  Second.  To  the  east  (rather  important  export)  and  in  a  smaller 
proportion  to  Spain  and  Italy,  where  it  is  sent  without  adultera- 
tion. Such  countries  demand  the  article  for  the  purpose  of  passing 
it  through  the  same,  or  some  similar  preparation,  to  send  it  finally 
to  the  same  favorite  necrroes. 

"  I  may  add  that  the  imports  of  alcohol  from  New  York  have 
increased  remarkably.  I  find  for  the  last  two  months  and  a  half 
of  1878 — 11,000  barrels  alcohol,  measuring  485,048  gallons,  and 
300  barrels  rum,  measuring  12,080  gallons."  (Note:  the  11,000 
barrels  of  alcohol  being  from  94  deg.  to  95  deg.  pure,  would  ecjual 
about  900,000  gallons  proof.)  "  And  from  the  commencement  of 
this  year  to  date  (period  of  six  weeks)  — 10,499  barrels  alcohol,  or 
544,1 1 1  gallons,"  (equal  to  about  1,000,000  proof),  "  the  value  of 
the  merchandise  (in  bond)  being  still  about  the  same,  viz.  :  80 
francs  per  barrel." 


Conclusion. 

Gentlemen,  I  will  detain  you  no  longer.  I  have  tried  to  make 
it  plain  to  you,  that  even  to  the  ardent  free  trader  you  should  say: 
No  !  wait  a  little;  this  time  is  not  ijood  for  making  radical 
changes  in  our  tariff ;  we  must  wait  until  the  commerce  of  Europe 
is  more  composed,  and  until  our  present  industrial  victories  are  as- 
sured. Those  of  you  who  believe  that  our  workingmen  have 
rights,  that  it  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  protect 
them  in  their  cherished  habits  and  customs  of  comfortable  living, 
and  against  debasing  competition  in  their  own  markets  with  the 
wares  of  peoples  who  have  nothing  in  common  with  them  except 
their  human  kind,  as  it  is  to  protect  them  in  their  lives  and  liber- 
ties, will  say  that  such  competition  shall  never  be  forced  upon  us. 


211 

As  a  workingman,  I  should  prefer  to  sec  my  family  die  than  to  see 
them  live,  at  the  expense  of  their  home  enjoyments,  as  most  of 
the  European  operatives  do,  who  are  forced  down  and  degraded 
by  the  hot  strife  of  nations  competing  with  each  other  in  foreign 
trade.  So  far  as  the  industries  of  California  are  concerned,  you 
will  no  doubt  consider  your  duty  to  be  to  consult  their  interests 
before  consulting  tho^e  of  Bordeaux  and  Lyons. 

As  a  matter  of  policy,  you  will  n  >  doubt  consider  it  more  im- 
portant to  cultivate  trade  relations  with  those  countries  in  whose 
markets  our  exports  and  those  of  France  meet  in  competition. 
We  are  becoming  a  rival  in  every  respect  with  France  ;  this  is  not 
the  time  to  tie  ourselves  to  her  policy,  but  to  seek  markets  where 
she  finds  them.  Our  natural  interchange  of  products  will  soon 
take  care  of  itself,  and  after  a  while  we  may  talk  of  treaties,  but 
not  now. 


OPINIONS 

0/  Hon.  Horace  Davis  and  Hon.  J.  K,  Luttrell,  memhers  of  the  Forty-fifth  Congruj. 


At  the  close  of  the  address  delivered  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Wetmore, 
before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Hon.  Horace  Davis  said  : 

"  I  am  in  sympathy  with  the  views  expressed  by  Mr.  Wet- 
more.  I  should  regard  the  change,  as  urged  by  Mr.  Chotteau,  as 
being  against  the  best  interests  of  our  people." 

Hon.  J.  K.  Luttrell  said  : 

Mr.  Chairman  :  The  only  question  that  presents  itself  to  us  is 
this  :  Are  we,  as  business  men  and  as  producers,  to  be  benefited 
by  this  treaty,  which  has  been  proposed  by  this  committee  of  gen- 
tlemen in  France  ?  Is  there  a  mechanic,  or  a  manufacturer,  to- 
day, in  the  United  States,  who  can  compete  with  the  French  man- 
ufacturer,  or  the  French  mechanic?  In  France,  the  manufacturers 
are  favored  by  cheaper  work,  because  their  employees  work  a 
greater  number  of  hours  than  we  do.  They  import  very  little  of 
our  manufactured  goods.  Nearly  all  of  their  purchases  from  this 
country  are  of  raw  material.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  should  follow 
their  example  in  doing  business.  We  should  manufacture  the  raw 
material.  In  many  respects  the  European  governments  are  our 
equals  in  the  contest  of  manufacturers,  and  in  some  respects  they 
are  our  superiors.  If  we  want  a  reciprocity  treaty  we  should  at 
once  endeavor  to  bring  about  relations  with  the  South  American 
republic,  by  which  we  could  import  the  raw  material  at  satisfactory 
rates  and  send  in  exchange  therefor  the  handiwork  of  our  mechanics 
and  artisans.  But,  should  we  make  a  reciprocity  treaty  with 
France,  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  Frenchman  would  get  the 
jug  and  we  would  get  the  handle,  and  a  badly  broken  handle  at 
that.     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Chotteau  has  informed  us  to-day  that  the  Representatives 
of  this  coast  favor  his  proposition.  It  is  the  first  time  I  have 
ever  heard  it.  I  have  never  heard  one  of  our  Senators,  or  Repre- 
sentatives make  any  expression  in  favor  of  the  proposed  treat  v. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  their  expressed  opinion  that  the  proposition 
is  one,  which,  if  carried  into  effect,  would  injure  a  very  larg^e  clasb 
of  oyr  citiiena. 


PROTEST 


AGAINST  THE  PROPOSED 


Franco-American  Commercial  Treaty 


Signed  by  Producing  and  Manufadiiring  Finns  of  the 
State    of   California,  other  than    those  en- 
gaged i7i    Vhiicidtnre. 


To  Caleb  T.  Fay,  Esq.,  Chairman  of  the  Special  Committee 
of  the  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce,  having 
under  consideration  the  injuries  to  the  industries  of 
California  which  may  follow  the  proposed  Reciprocity 
Treaty  with  France: 

Sir:  The  project  of  a  Franco- American  Treaty  of  Com- 
merce, formulated  in  Paris  during  the  month  of  August,  1878,  by  a 
convention  of  its  promoters,  who  have  since  been  represented  in 
this  country  by  Mr.  Leon  Chotteau  and  others,  demands  in  general 
terms  on  behalf  of  French  industries,  a  reduction  in  our  tariff  bear- 
ing upon  imports  of  French  products,  as  follows: 

"  First. — A  reduction  of  thirty  per  cent,  on  the  duties  inposed 
for  the  importation  of  all  articles  paying  not  over  forty  per  cent,  ad 
valorem,  or  its  equivalent  on  specific  duties. 

"  Second. — No  higher  duty  than  thirty  per  cent,  shall  be 
levied  on  any  article  excepting  those  hereinafter  mentioned. 

"  Third. — Relative  to  silks,  all  articles  now  paying  sixty  per 
cent,  shall  be  reduced  for  the  first  year  to  fifty  per  cent,  and  for 
the  second  year  to  forty  per  cent.,  and  for  the  third  year  to  thirty 
per  cent.,  and  at  that  rate  the  duty  shall  be  fixed  for  the  duration 
of  the  treaty. 

"  Fourth. — Relative  to  still  wines  in  casks  (en  cercle)  a  reduc- 
tion to  twenty  cents  per  gallon. 

"  Fifth. — Relative  to  still  wines  in  bottles,  a  reduction  to  fifty 
cents  per  dozen. 

'*  Sixth. — Relative  to  spirits,  a  reduction  to  one  dollar  per 
gallon. 

"  Seventh. — Sugar  and  molasses  do  not  enter  into,  and  are 
not  affected  by  tne  treaty."- 

In  conclusion  of  these   reductions,  it  is  proposed   to  grant  to 

the  United  States  the  benefit  of  the  Conventional  Tariff  of  1*" ranee. 

'the   undersigned,  being   producers  and   manufacturers  of  the 


2l8 

State  of  California,  desire  to  express  to  the  Committee,  over  which 
you  preside,  our  behef  that  such  a  radical  chancre  in  our  tariff  sys- 
tem, even  though  it  were  modified  in  some  particulars,  would  seri- 
ously retard  the  growth  of  American  industries  and  tend  to  destroy 
the  happy  results  of  our  past  policy  of  protection  to  our  working- 
men  of  all  classes;  and  that,  while  the  benefit  of  the  treaty,  so  far 
as  our  tariff  would  be  concerned,  would  be  enjoyed  by  all  produc- 
ing nations  of  the  world,  thereby  greatly  increasing  our  importations, 
this  country  would  enjoy  only  small  and  doubtful  advantages  under 
the  French  Conventional  Tariff.  We  view  also  with  alarm,  any 
departure  from  our  past  successful  policy,  which  may  destroy  our 
liberty  of  action  in  our  commercial  relations  with  rival  producing 
countries,  such  as  is  proposed  by  the  promoters  of  the  Franco- 
American  treaty,  who  say:  "  This  treaty  shall  be  obligatory  and 
binding  on  the  contracting  parties  for  the  period  of  ten  years." 

The  Industrie-^  which  we  represent  would  be  seriously  injured 
by  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty;  therefore  we  earnestly  urge  your 
Committee  to  make  known  to  the  o-overnment  of  the  United 
States,  our  delegations  in  Congress,  and  other  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce, the  desire  of  our  people  in  this  respect,  urging  them  to 
adhere  firmly  to  the  policy  which  has  been  so  successful  in  the  past. 

C.  C.  Burr  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  spices,  mustards,  etc. 

Edwarci  Bosqui  &  Co.,  engravers,  printers  and  book-binders. 

John  G.  lis,  coppersmithing  and  foundry. 

Auofust  Koehler,  truss  manufacturer. 

Goodwin  &  Co.,  furniture,  etc. 

California  Furniture  Manufacturinof  Co. 

Giovannini  &  Co.,  Union  Brass  Foundry. 

Wagner  &  Todt,  Pacific  Copper  Works. 

F.  C.  Bauer,  trusses  and  drugs. 

W.  J.  Home,  California  Elastic  Truss  Co. 

Robert  Coulter,  agent  for  Wakefield  Rattan  Co. 

Sidney  M.  Smith,  President  Cutting  Packing  Co. 

Code,  Elfelt  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  preserves,  sealed  goods,  etc. 

Buckingham  &  Hecht,  manufacturers  of  boots  and  shoes. 

Hecht  Bros.  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  boots  and  shoes,  leather,  etc. 


219 

Nonotuck  Silk  Co.,  by  Brown  &  Metzner,  agents. 

S.  \V.  Rosenstock  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  boots  and  shoes. 

M.  Monrenthau,  manufacturer  of  soaps  and  candles. 

J.  Brandenstein,  President  Pacific  Jute  Co. 

Israel  Cahn,  manager  Pioneer  and  Mission  Woolen  Mills. 

W.  K.  Vanderslice   &  Co.,   manufacturers  of  silver- ware  and 

jewelry. 
L   Atkinson  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  shirts. 
P.  &  F.  G.  Conklin,  manufacturers  of  gloves. 
Sanders  &  Co.,  coppersmiths. 
Weed  &  Kingwell,  brass  founders. 
J.  J.  Pfister  &  Co.,  knitted  goods. 
A.  Calmann,  perfumeries. 
Wolff  &  Son,  watch  materials  and  tools. 
Dinkelspiel  &  Nordman,  watch  materials,  tools,  etc. 
Lorsch  Brothers,  watches  and  jewelry. 
S.  Weidenreich,  shirts. 
A.  Stolz,  shirts. 

Albert  M.  Joel,        j   ^^^anufacturers  of  neck-ties,  etc. 

A.  M.  Heineman,   ) 

Wenzel,  Rothsclild  &  Hadenfeldt,  jewelry. 

George  Larsen. 

John  S.  Kostcr,  President  Pacific  Vinegar  Works. 

Chas.  Popper,  shirt  manufacturer. 

L.  Schuniann,  meerschaum  pipes.    • 

Henry  Tetlow  «&  Brother,  toilet  soaps  and  perfumery. 

Porter,  Oppenheimer,  Slessinger  &  Co.,  boots  and  shoes. 

Geo.  K.  &  B.  F,  Porter,  leather,  etc. 

Neustadter  Bros.,  Standard  Shirt  Factory,  clothing,  etc. 

Colman  Bros.,  clothing,  etc. 

W.  W.  Montague  &  Co.,  stoves,  metal  works,  etc. 

H.  P.  Wakelee  &  Co.,  wholesale  druggists  and  manufacturers. 

Chas.  Langley  &  Co.,  wholesale  druggists  and   luanufiicturers. 

Abrams  &  Carroll,  wholesale  druggists  and  manufacturers. 

Redington  &  Co.,  wholesale  druggists  and  manufacturors. 

D.  Mirschfeld,  steam  candy  works. 

Frank  I  )exter,  wholesale  manufacturing  confectioner. 

Schroder  <^  Albrecht.  wholesale  manufacturing  confectioners. 


220 

Fahrbach  &  Seid,  wholesale  manufacturing  confectioners. 
A.  Bergmann,  wholesale  manufacturing  confectioner. 
L.  Saroni  &  Co.,  wholesale  manufacturing  confectioners. 
M.  11.  Mercer,  wholesale  manufacturing  confectioner. 
Geo.  Haas  &    Co.,  wholesale  manufacturing  confect  oners. 

California  Silk  Manufacturing  Co. 

Will  (i  Fink,  Manufacturing  Cutlers 

IVI.  Price,  Cutler. 

A.  S.  Halladie,  Wire  Rope  and  Wire. 

California  Wire  W^orks  Co.,  Wire  Goods. 

S.  F.  &  Pacifiic  Glass  Works,  By  C.  Neuman,  General  Manager. 

W.   K.   Vanderslice   &  Co.,  Manufacturers  of  Silverware  and 

Jewelry. 
Wm.  T.  Garratt,  Bell  and  Brass  Founder. 
The  Risdon  Iron  and  Locomotive  Works,  By  W.  H.  Taylor. 

President. 
John  R.  Sims,  Manufacturer  Iron  Uoors,   Bank  Vaults  etc. 
Birch  Argftll  &  Co..  California  Machine  Works. 
Tait  &  Hainque,  Cyclops  Machine  Works, 
Francis  Smith  &  Co.,   Manufactuers  of  Iron  Pipe 
Gass  &  Adams,  Machinists. 
Neville  &  Co.,  Bag  Manufacturers. 
Hinckley,  Speers  &  Hayes,  Fulton  Iron  Works 
Steiger  &  Kerr,  Occidental  Foundery. 
Rankin,  Bayton  &  Co.,  Pacific  Iron  Works. 
Prescott,  Scott  &  Co.,  Union  Iron  Works. 
Pendergast  &  Smith,  ALtns.  Iron  W' orks. 
N.  W.  Spaulding,  Pacific  Saw  Manufacturing  Co. 
A.  Doble,  Steel  Works. 
Golden  Gate  &  Miner's  Iron  W^orks 
Holbrook,   Merrill  &  Stetson,    Manufacturers    in    Iron,    Ti", 

Copper  etc. 


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